A Change In Me
by FutureStar27
Summary: "Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." Long ago, a King and his kingdom suffered a horrible curse. The only one who could save them was a fiery tongued girl named Alissa. My version of Beauty and the Beast. SetoXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys. So….I'm starting another story. I have no idea why I'm starting another story when I literally have three others on this profile as well as a collab story on another profile currently in progress. I just always have ideas circling in my head that won't go away until I get them down. Somebody send help, because it's a problem. Anyhoo, all sarcasm aside, I'm super excited for this story because it's a Yu-Gi-Oh! version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! That's right folks, I decided to Yu-Gi-Ohify my FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE EVER, with a few twists and turns of my own of course…I've honestly had this story idea for such a long time now, several months now that I'm thinking about it, that it feels WONDERFUL to finally get it written down to publish. So, with all that said, read and enjoy.**

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Once upon a time, in a time long, long ago, there was a kingdom called Draconia. The kingdom of Draconia itself was magnificent, filled with lush forests, rolling plains, and snowcapped mountains, but a vile and cruel King ruled over the kingdom. He was an arrogant and selfish man who only cared about furthering his own wealth and glory. He treated his subjects, and even his own family like dirt.

The Queen of Draconia, Lillian, was unlike her husband. She was a beautiful woman with long, ebony hair and clear, blue eyes and unlike her husband, she was kindhearted and fair. The Queen was his second wife who he married shortly after the death of his first wife. The Queen had two children from her marriage with her previous husband, two boys named Mokuba and Seto.

Mokuba, only seven at the time of his mother's second marriage, was a cheerful and innocent boy. The young boy was very much like his mother, gifted with her long, black hair and caring and gentle personality. He had large, gray-blue eyes that were always wide with a childish curiosity. He loved everyone, no matter who they were, and that trait made him very popular with the subjects. Though he loved everyone, the person that Mokuba loved more than anyone in the world, was his brother, Seto.

Seto was older than Mokuba by five years. He was a handsome young man, both on the inside and out. His hair was chocolate brown and his eyes were as clear and blue as his mother's were. He was loyal and fair with a heart of gold and would fight anyone ferociously to protect his loved ones and the people of Draconia.

Yes, the King of Draconia was cruel, but with Lillian and her children at his side, the kingdom was protected from much of his cruelness. However, that changed when Lillian died.

It was a little more than nine years after Lillian's marriage to the King when the Queen passed in her sleep. The castle physician was unable to find anything wrong with her and ruled her death a result of some undetected illness. The staff of the castle suspected that their King had something to do with their Queen's death. Lillian was extraordinarily healthy so it was unlikely that a sudden sickness caused her death, especially since there were no symptoms present prior to her death. Though the staff had their suspicions, none dared to confront their King or do anything to avenge the fallen Queen. No one, except for Seto. He never liked his stepfather. He knew that when his stepfather married his mother he wanted one thing, a biological heir to the throne. When Lillian failed to birth her husband a living son, he had her killed. Seto wasn't going to let the King get away with killing his mother. A rebellion began, starting slowly and quickly picking up speed. With the help of his brother, the castle staff, and the people of the kingdom, Seto was able to overthrow the old King. The rebellion infiltrated the castle and defeated the King, who for punishment for his misdeeds, was exiled to the deepest part of the woods just outside the kingdom's border. A couple days after the old King's banishment, on the night of his twenty-first birthday, Seto Kaiba became the King of Draconia.

For several months, the kingdom thrived. Trading increased and the family owned businesses within the kingdom flourished. The people were as happy as they were before the exiled King took over. Yes, the people loved their new King and he loved them back. The people were grateful to him everyday for saving them from the brutality of his stepfather. The peaceful kingdom was completely unaware of the disaster that was about to come.

Unbeknownst to the kingdom, the old King plotted revenge from deep within the forest. He hated the people of _his_ kingdom for turning on him, and above all, he hated his oldest stepson. The young King had no royal blood, and yet he was ruling _his_ kingdom. As the months passed, his anger and solitude festered until it began to devour his soul. Seto would _pay_ for stealing his kingdom and he was prepared to make the young man suffer as much as possible. The vengeful King began to experiment with the dark magic from the Shadow Realm. The anger and darkness in his heart morphed him until he lost his humanity and he made a deal with the dark creatures residing in the Shadow Realm. He would be granted immortality with the dark powers of a sorcerer and in exchange, he would give the creatures of the Shadow Realm Seto Kaiba's soul. The Shadow Realm granted the old King dark powers by giving him a magic talisman in the shape of one of the mightiest creatures known, Exodia. With his wish for dark powers granted, he could finally satisfy his hunger for revenge.

The day that everything changed should have been a happy day. The castle was holding a ball in honor of their King succeeding in making yet another trade alliance with a neighboring kingdom and to watch the comet that was expected to return after seventy-five years that night. The King turned sorcerer turned up at the party wearing a mask to hide his face and a long red cloak to hide his pale hair. Only when the people were about to toast their King did the sorcerer reveal himself. He threw away the masquerade hiding his identity and smirked deviously at the frightened reactions of the crowd. He demanded that his stepson relinquish the crown to its rightful owner and leave the kingdom.

Obviously, Seto refused. He was not going to renounce the throne and the lives of his subject to the vile old King. An evil smirk crawled its way across the sorcerer's face. He began to speak in a language no one recognized and black energy began to form from his hands. The Royal Guard fought to protect their King but the whispery clouds of black soon filled the entire throne room. The sorcerer had called upon the powers of the Shadow Realm to place a powerful and devastating curse on the castle and all who lived there. He wasn't going to just kill his stepson. Oh no, he wanted his stepson to suffer so it would make his reclaim of the throne that much sweeter. But not only did he want his stepson to suffer, he wanted the members of the staff who had turned on him to suffer as well.

When the clouds of dark energy disappeared, the residents of the castle had been stripped of their human forms and turned into monsters from another world. But for his stepson, he wanted him to suffer the most. He wanted to see him suffer alone in solitude and despair the same way he had. He wanted his stepson to wither away and die alone. So he cursed him with the form of the most powerful and deadly creature of all, a creature that was once beloved by the young King: the form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. But his form was neither monster nor human, but some horrible thing in between. The young King became a prisoner in his own body with only his loyal servants and younger brother, now trapped in forms that no human would dare trust, by his side.

To amuse himself and ensure the suffering of his stepson, the sorcerer offered an ultimatum. The young King had until the return of the comet to find someone to accept him for the way he was and break the curse. If he failed, his soul would be damned to be trapped in the Shadow Realm forever. With a maniacal laugh, the sorcerer disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke.

The young King tried to remain hopeful, but as the years passed he fell into despair and his heart began to grow cold. He became bitter towards the world, the one he once protected, who had come to shun his as a monster. He lost all hope, for who could ever love a monster?

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 **GUYS IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! I am just SO excited for this story. Beauty and the Beast is the best. Anyway, I just wanted to mention a couple things.**

 **1\. First off, I would like to give a HUGE thank you to my awesome collab partner, friend, and brainstorm buddy, DarkQueenofDuels for agreeing to be my beta for this story. She's amazing, so go check her out cause she has awesome stuff on her profile.**

 **So, as you can see I twisted things a little bit and made the "Enchantress" a little more…devious than that part is in the movie/story. The reason for that is that it's just my personal opinion that the Enchantress in the movie IS a villain. I mean, who curses an eleven year old for not letting a scary stranger into their house? However, I do not want you guys to worry that there is not a "Gaston" in this story. There is one and his identity will be revealed next chapter. "Gaston" will still be the villain, I just wanted Seto to be cursed rather than have him be punished for being selfish and heartless and what not, because he isn't.**

 **The comet mentioned is in fact Halley's Comet, which orbits every 75 or so years. I was originally going to have Seto get cursed on his coronation day (his birthday) but the only time Halley's Comet passed on that time was in 1301 and that is WAY too early for the story to take place. So I just chose a different date that would make more sense for the events of the story. Just in case anyone is curious, I imagine the curse being set in the time around the 1682 sighting.**

 **Okay, that's all I wanted to touch on. Other than that, read, review, critique, enjoy, and all that other stuff. I wonder if you guys can guess who "Gaston" and the "Enchantress" are. Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoyed and I'll talk to you next update.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys! Thanks for the reviews last chapter. I'm really, REALLY ecstatic that you guys enjoyed last chapter. I'm super excited for this story so it makes me happy to know that you guys are as well. It was also super fun to read your guys' predictions on who is going to be who. You guys will find out if your predictions are right in time. Thanks again to DarkQueenofDuels for agreeing to be my beta, it always helps to have another pair of eyes to catch any mistakes. Also, I just want to apologize for how long it has taken to get this chapter up. When I first started the chapter, I assumed it would be a pretty quick write since I have the large majority of the story mapped out already. However, wording was a big struggle for me in this chapter, especially since most of the chapter was setting everything up. Anyhoo, enough rambling from me! Enjoy the next chapter.**

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The girl hummed quietly as she plucked the strings of her guitar. Her long legs dangled carelessly over the side of the tree branch she was sitting on. She strummed a wrong chord and she frowned.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath. "That wasn't right either." She continued to pluck at the strings and each chord was incorrect. She sighed in frustration and ran a hand through her curly, ebony colored hair. _Damn, I knew I should have written it down_ , she mentally scolded herself. Her self-reprimanding was cut short when she heard the low drone of the clock tower from the town square. _Damn! Way to go, Alissa, you're late again!_ She gently positioned her guitar on her back before swinging down from the tree branch. She smoothed down the front of her light blue dress and ran her hand through her curls to shake loose any branches that might have ended up in her hair from her climb. Once she made sure she looked presentable, she grabbed her knapsack and headed hastily into the town square.

Alissa and her family had moved to the small town of Draakhaven six years earlier when Alissa was fourteen and her younger brother, Ben, was only ten. The Todd family was originally from a town called Vibria Creek, a small town two towns to the South of Draakhaven, but settled into the slightly larger town of Draakhaven when their patriarch, Joshua, decided to relocate his rapidly growing business to a larger town.

Joshua was a handsome man, with a strong jaw, neatly cut, dark, and curly locks, and piercing green eyes. He was strong and kind, but above all, he was a gifted musician. In addition to his passion for music, he also had a deep love for adventure. His wife, Abigail, was a beautiful woman with long, brunette hair, and shared his kind soul and affinity for adventure. Following their marriage, the couple spent several years travelling and exploring the world. They settled down in Vibria Creek for a short time when they discovered Abigail was pregnant. Once both Alissa and Ben were old enough to travel, the family continued their adventures.

Unfortunately, at the age of six, Ben developed breathing problems that made heavy travel difficult. The family was forced to stop their adventuring and settle down in Vibria Creek permanently. Despite the family's love for adventure, it wasn't too difficult for the family to settle into the small town life. The town was right along the coast, so even if they couldn't travel to distant lands like they used to, the neighboring islands were just a short boat ride away. Shortly after settling in the town, Joshua and Abigail opened up a music shop that sold various hand made instruments and had a large library of sheet music. The music ranged from classics by well-known composers to original songs that Joshua had composed himself. The small shop flourished and soon Joshua decided to move his family and his growing business to the larger town of Draakhaven.

It hadn't been too much of a challenge for the family to settle into living in the new town. Ben was a carefree child and could find a new adventure in almost anything. The various different shops and the many fields around the town were enough to keep the young boy satisfied with the otherwise boring town.

Unfortunately, Alissa hadn't adjusted to the provincial life so easily. Even though Draakhaven was larger than Vibria Creek, she still missed the days where her and her family would travel and explore many exotic cultures and places. She longed to go back to the days when she could sail the sea and visit so many sites that most people would never get to see in their lifetime. The only thing that made living in Draakhaven worthwhile was her best friend Alister Allaway.

The Todd family met the Allaway family when they moved into the farmhouse next door. Claire Allaway was an attractive young widow who had lost her husband Michael in a war. She was left alone to raise her two sons. Mikey, their youngest, was a year older than Ben and had reddish brown hair that framed his face and fell past his ears and light gray eyes. Alister, the elder, was a year older than Alissa and had maroon colored hair that flipped at the ends and darker gray eyes than his younger brother. It didn't take long for the two families to grow close and soon the two families were practically one big family.

A couple years after the Todd family moved to Draakhaven, Alister tragically lost his brother and mother to illness. Now without a family, Alister moved in with Alissa and her family. Even though his family's deaths were tragic, the tragedy brought him and Alissa even closer together. She was thankful for Alister. She didn't fit in at Draakhaven from the beginning. She wasn't like everyone else she was too wild. Despite that, Alister still accepted her and befriended her. She was thankful that he was such a big part of her life. Without him, living in Draakhaven would have killed her.

It was already mid afternoon and the small town of Draakhaven was still alive with people carrying out their daily routines. Smooth cobblestone lined the roads of the small town. Brick houses with cobbled chimneys lined the streets, each house serving as a shop on the bottom story and a home on the top. A tall, stone clock tower stood in the middle of the town with large walls protruding from either side of it, surrounding the whole town and separating it from the lush woods.

 _Every day is exactly the same_ , she thought negatively as she made her way through the crowds of people. _How can these people be okay with doing the same thing everyday? Where is their sense of adventure?_ The smell of fresh bread pulled her out of her thoughts and she spotted Rafael, the baker, walking towards his cart with a tray of bread.

"Good afternoon, Alissa," the muscular blond howled in greeting as he passed.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Almar."

"Where are you off to?"

"Oh, the bookshop. I actually just finished this great book about a curse and a King and a-."

"That's nice," he responded, clearly uninterested as he called for his assistant over his shoulder. "Valon! I need the rest of the baguettes! Hurry up!"

Alissa rolled her eyes and continued her fast paced walk to the bookshop. Aside from her home and their family music shop, the bookshop was the only place in town where she felt like she actually fit in. As she walked, she picked up on several townspeople gossiping about her.

"That girl is strange, no question," a group of middle-aged housewives spoke amongst themselves.

"She's never part of any crowd," an older woman pointed out. "She's always by herself reading books or playing that instrument of hers."

"She always has her head stuck in some cloud," the blacksmith grunted to his assistant.

"No denying she's a funny girl, that Alissa," a group of gossiping old women conversed as they moved from shop to shop.

 _Ugh, this is_ ridiculous, Alissa growled as she heard the never-ending gossip. _What the hell is wrong with this people? Do they think I can't hear them?_

A small group of schoolgirls passed her and giggled to each other.

"She's so peculiar," one of them giggled.

"I wonder if she's feeling well?" another one added.

"My parents would throw me out if I acted like her. She's much too wild," a third girl said primly.

Alissa clenched her fists tightly and exhaled through her nose. It took all of her will not to snap at them in frustration.

"She always has that dreamy, far-off look on her face," an aristocratic man mumbled.

"You're right, if she isn't playing that instrument of hers, her nose is stuck in some book," his friend replied in agreement.

"She's so strange, but special," a young man replied almost pityingly. "It's such a shame that she doesn't fit in."

"She's quite the funny girl, but very beautiful."

"A beauty, but a funny girl."

 _Somebody get me out of this town_ , Alissa thought in frustration. She clenched her fists in frustration. Every single day she heard the townspeople mumble the words "strange", "odd", "peculiar", or "funny." She had half a mind to turn around and snap at them all to shut up like she used to when she was younger, but instead she forced herself to hold her tongue. An outburst like that would only earn her more disrespect and make her even more of an outcast. She only kept her temper in check to respect her parents and protect their reputations. She absolutely cherished and respected both of her parents. She, Ben, and Alister, who had practically become a Todd himself, were all devastated when disease killed Joshua, and less than six months later, a broken heart killed Abigail as well. The town could say whatever she wished about her, she could take it, but Alissa would never forgive herself if she tarnished her parent's reputation because she couldn't control her temper. Besides, all it would accomplish would be more gossiping and the townspeople marching up to their farmhouse to complain to Alister about how he needed to control his "wild" and "undisciplined" friend. She didn't want to put him through their nonsense simply because he was the only one they could complain to now.

"Pft, beauty," she mocked, catching sight of her reflection in one of the shop windows. "What a joke." She supposed she wasn't awful looking, but she wouldn't call herself beautiful. Although she was slender with nice, lean muscles, she was tall for a girl, towering over even some of the men in the village. Her hair was always unmanageably curly. No, she wasn't beautiful. To be beautiful, you had to have perfectly tanned skin and be graceful like her mother. She wouldn't even consider herself sweet looking. No, she was too tall and her face too angular for that. Ben was sweet looking. Due to being sick a lot as a child, Ben hadn't grown much. He was slender with tar black hair and large blue eyes. Even at sixteen, his eyes still held some sort of innocence.

What frustrated Alissa the most was that even though she couldn't see the beauty in herself that the town saw, for everyone else, her beauty was all they saw. They made no efforts to look beyond her appearance and try to get to know her. It was frustrating that she'd never accept her for who she was.

She sighed and stared out past the walls and caught sight of the lush woods. The leaves were ablaze with colors of red, orange, and gold. A small smile appeared on her lips as she brushed a stray curl behind her ear. _One day I'm going to get out of this stupid, provincial town and I'm never going to come back_.

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 **Alright, there is the next chapter. I had originally planned make this chapter super long, but I decided pacing wise that splitting it into two would be better.**

 **First, it took me a while to decide what Rafael's and Alister's last names should be since they were never given one in the anime. After looking up origins of their names, I decided to go with a Scottish last name for Alister and a Hebrew last name for Rafael because those were the origins for their first names, although I believe Rafael's first name also has Germanic origins, but hey I'm just going with the Hebrew. Also, random fact cause I found this really interesting, Alister's name means defender of mankind. See what writers of the show did there? Anyway, I found that really smart and it amused me.**

 **Second, the town names, Draakhaven and Vibria Creek came to me after several hours of thinking. Okay, maybe not several hours, but it took a while. I wanted something dragon like since the kingdom itself is called Draconia. So, after researching for a while I came up with Draakhaven for the main town and Vibria Creek for the neighboring town that Alissa and her family were originally from. The word draak is dragon in Dutch and a Vibria is actually a female Catalan dragon (dragons from Catalonia). Ya see what I did there?**

 **Third, just to clear things up a little, this story doesn't take place in France like the actual Beauty and the Beast fairytale does. This story takes place in a fantasy "world" of sorts. I mean, there's still real countries like Germany, Scotland, Denmark, and all other countries since I use a lot of them for name origins, but Draconia is like its own separate country where things like dragons and magic exist and what not. I just wanted to make sure that was clear since I'm using names with tons of different origins.**

 **And lastly, this has nothing to do with ACIM, but if any of you read the TACOM saga, I have a poll on my profile pertaining to whether or not I should turn the trilogy into a series. Since I'm obsessed with writing Selissa, I kind of want to do one more story in the saga, which focuses on them as parents and the hardships that come with it. If that's something you guys would be interested in seeing, go on and vote. The next thing I will be updating will be A Step Too Far, which is my collab story with DarkQueenofDuels that can be found on our collab account Sakura and Alissa. Anyhoo, enough of the self-promo. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Review, critique, ask questions, whatever you want. Talk to you guys soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! So, I know I said that ASTF would be the next thing I updated, but I've just felt really inspired with this story for the past few days and before I knew it, I had a whole chapter written! Honestly, part of that inspiration came from your guys' kind reviews last chapter. Again, thank you so much, I really appreciate hearing from you guys, whether it be to ask questions, point out a mistake, or talk about what you like. You guys are a huge part of my inspiration. Anyhoo, enough of the sappiness and let's get on with the chapter!**

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Alissa couldn't hold back the small smile that formed on her lips when she finally reached her favorite place in town. The bookshop. She pushed open the double door made of mahogany and entered the cathedral like building. The town bookshop was a relatively large, round building with bookshelves all around going from the ceiling to the floor. All the walls tapered into a point on the ceiling to meet a grand, iron chandelier in the middle. A few ladders were positioned on casters on the shelves that were too high too reach and a small table and chair sat in various parts of the building. She walked across the marbled floor towards a large, dark wooden desk, where an elderly man was waiting.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come today, Alissa," the older, mustached man said with a smile.

"Sorry, Mr. Hawkins," she replied sincerely, digging a hand into her knapsack. "I guess I just got distracted and lost track of the time. I just wanted to bring by the books I borrowed yesterday." Her hand finally found the two books and she pulled them out to place them on the desk.

"Finished already?" Mr. Hawkins asked, feigning surprise.

"Oh, I couldn't put them down," she responded with a laugh before heading over to scan one of the bookshelves. "I don't suppose you have anything new do you?"

"Not since yesterday," he chuckled.

"That's alright, I'll just renew this one," she requested, approaching the desk and placing her hand on the top book.

"I should have guessed," he laughed. "You've been borrowing this same book every week since you moved here."

"I can't help it, it's my favorite," she replied, a small blush covering her cheeks. "No matter how many times I read it, I never get tired of it. It's a shame it ends so abruptly. I wish I could know how the Dragon King's curse gets broken."

Arthur Hawkins smiled broadly at the young woman, before picking up the book and holding it out to her.

"If you like it all that much, consider it yours."

"But-."

"I insist. Its better off with you anyway."

"Thank you," she replied, taking the book from him. "Thank you so much!"

"It's my pleasure, Alissa. My job is to make sure each book has a home, and that home is with you."

"Thank you, this means a lot to me." She paused to flip through the leather bond book with her eyebrows creased in thought. "Mr. Hawkins?"

"Yes, Alissa?"

"Do you think the story is real?" she asked, unable to hold back her thoughts any longer. "Do you think the Dragon King exists? I know the Royal Family disappeared about seventy-six years ago, but what if they didn't really disappear? What if they just hid themselves away until someone came along and figured out how to break their curse?"

"I suppose it's possible."

His response made Alissa realize what she said and she blushed.

"Sorry, I know that this stuff probably isn't real. Sometimes my imagination gets out of control. I know I'm being foolish-."

"Don't ever apologize for having an imagination. Lord knows that the people in these town could use some imagination of their own."

"The people in this town don't seem to think so. It's no secret that I don't fit in here. I hear what they say about me."

"I know their words are hurtful, Alissa but don't let them break that spirit of yours."

"Do you think I'm odd?"

The older man walked around his desk to stand next to her and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. His touch caused her to move her gaze to his face.

"I think you have something special that no one else in this town has and if they can't see that what you have is special then they are all damned fools."

"Thank you, Mr. Hawkins," she replied with a small smile.

"Anytime, Alissa."

"Well, I should go. I promised Alister I'd be home to help him with dinner. I'll let you close up."

"Alright, Alissa. Come by again tomorrow, I might have some new books by then."

"Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you again for the book."

"Goodbye, Alissa."

She waved to the older man and exited the library. She glanced at the clock tower before adjusting her knapsack and picking up her pace. _I'd better hurry; it'll be dark soon._

"Alissa!"

The sounds of someone calling her name made her pause and roll her eyes. _Great, just what I needed, to run into him_ , she thought.

"Alissa!" the thickly accented voice repeated.

She grit her teeth before putting on the best friendly smile she could muster and turning to greet the person calling her.

"Good afternoon, Alissa. I thought maybe you hadn't heard me calling you," the taller man who had called her replied, coming to stand beside her with a younger boy at his side. The tall man was about a year older than Alissa and stood a few inches taller than her with long, lean legs and well toned muscles. He was dressed in a deep magenta coat, waistcoat, and breeches with elegant gold embroidery. His long, pink hair was tied back with a black ribbon at the nape of his neck, though a few stray pieces that were too short fell out to frame his face. Combined with his unblemished, smooth pale skin and vibrant aqua colored eyes, the young man was like a real life fairy-tale prince.

"Hello, Zigfried," Alissa greeted as politely as she could. "Leon." She added, greeting the sixteen year old that stood at Zigfried's side. The younger boy smiled at her in response.

Leon von Schroder was just as tall as Alissa and wore the same coat, waistcoat, and breeches of his elder brother, but in a light mint color with yellow embroidery. His pink hair was a darker shade and tied with a green ribbon with his bangs falling around his head to frame his face. His brown eyes were wide and his freckled cheeks lifted in a smile.

"Hello, Alissa," Leon greeted in response. "Where are you off to?"

"Oh, I'm just heading home. I had to drop off something at the bookstore first-."

"I'd be honored to walk you home, Darling," Zigfried replied with a sweet smile, offering his elbow to Alissa.

The ebony haired girl saw right through his sweet façade. The von Schroders were a wealthy family and their eldest son was quite possibly the most handsome man in town. Zigfried had been romantically pursuing Alissa since she moved into the town. Anyone would be honored to have him take an interest in them, anyone but Alissa. Ever since Alissa and her family moved to Draakhaven, she knew Zigfried to be pompous, arrogant, rude, and obsessed with his social standing. In other words, he was everything Alissa _wasn't_ looking for in a future spouse.

"No thank you, Zigfried. I'll be alright on my own." She turned to leave but was stopped when he came to stand in front of her.

"I insist," he replied with a grin before offering his elbow again.

"Really, Zigfried, it's alright. I'm late already, so I should really be going."

"Is this what kept you?" Zigfried asked, taking the book she had been carrying out from under her arm.

"Zigfried, can you please return my book?" she asked, fighting to remain civil.

"Haven't you read this book already?" he asked, flipping through the pages in mock curiosity.

"Yes, I have. It's my favorite, now please give me my book back."

"You know, Alissa, I enjoy reading as well, but that's all you ever do and when you aren't reading you're off playing that silly instrument of yours or working in your shop. You're twenty; it's time you start paying attention to more important things. Like marriage."

"Marriage?" _Damn it, he's going to bring this up again?_ "I don't mind working Zigfried. Besides, I don't want to marry just anyone."

"It wouldn't be just anyone, Darling. You deserve someone far more than that. You deserve someone wealthy, handsome, well liked-."

"Well gee, wherever will I find someone like that in this village?"

Zigfried chuckled at her and she rolled her eyes. _That was supposed to be an insult, you idiot._

"I _love_ your sense of humor, Alissa."

"I appreciate the compliment, now please return my book."

"Very well." He paused to hand her back her book. "Consider what I said."

"Thank you. I really should get going now," Alissa replied, attempting to shoulder her way past the broad shouldered narcissist. "I need to get home to Alister and my brother."

"Ah, yes I suppose you're right. I won't keep you," Zigfried responded, stepping out of her way with a smug smile.

"Yeah, you should get home to your brother. I hear he isn't doing well," Leon replied in agreement.

Alissa stopped her walking and turned to face the younger von Schroder and his snickering older brother.

"And what exactly do you mean by that? "Alissa hissed through tightly gritted teeth. She clenched her fists and took a dangerous step towards the two pink haired brothers.

"Aw, don't be so serious, Alissa," Leon said with a nervous laugh. "I didn't mean anything by it. I've just heard that he's been getting into a lot of fights recently."

"My brother is none of your business."

Leon opened his mouth to apologize but a group of five teenaged boys running by him stopped him. They looked a little beat up, but they all were wearing large grins and laughing.

"We'll play some more tomorrow, Ben!" one of them teased over their shoulder.

When Alissa heard the group call her brother's name, she tensed. _Damn it, Ben. Not again._ She frowned when she finally saw her brother come chasing after the group of boys. His lip was split, his nose bloody, and a small cut peeked out from under his hair on his forehead. He stopped running and held on to his side with one hand.

"Bastards!" he wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

"For God's sake, Ben!" Alissa exclaimed when she saw the shape her brother was in. "Again?"

"Those bastards started it," Ben snapped in response, using one arm to wipe his bleeding nose.

Alissa sighed before approaching her brother, and with some resistance on his part, supported some of his weight with her shoulder.

"Let's get you home."

 **xxx**

The Todd's home was a small, two-story country house near the edge of town. An enormous, golden field surrounded the home with several stables situated just alongside the far side of the house. The woods bordered the house on the two sides and back.

Alissa walked up the cobbled path towards the front door, still carefully carrying part of Ben's weight. She entered the front room that served as their music shop and walked through the doorway that lead to the sitting room.

"I thought you said you'd be back early," Alister replied, entering from the attached kitchen upon hearing the brother and sister return. "I was about to-what happened?" The maroon haired man asked in shock when he saw the state Ben was in.

"What do you think happened?" Alissa asked sarcastically. "He got into another fight."

"I'll go get his medicine and some bandages," Alister volunteered, wiping his flour-covered hands on his grey trousers and heading up the stairs to get the medical supplies needed.

While Alister made his way upstairs, Alissa lead Ben over to the sofa that sat in front of the fireplace and helped him sit down.

"Why were you fighting with someone now?" Alissa asked as she dragged the near by ottoman over to sit in front of Ben.

"It doesn't matter," Ben replied, clutching his side with one hand and gazing intently at the far left wall.

"Obviously it does matter if you were fighting about it."

"They were saying horrible things about you again."

She released a low sigh in response and ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Ben, why didn't you just ignore them?"

"You expect me just to ignore what they say about you? You should've heard the horrible things they were saying!"

"I can take what they say, Ben. I don't need you protecting me."

"Well you aren't going to do it. Besides, I would've won if that bastard's friends didn't jump in when he was losing."

"You need to stop this fighting, Ben. You could have been seriously hurt today."

"I'm fine."

"And you're lucky you are. What if you had an attack while you were fighting with them?"

"I didn't."

"Well what if you did?"

"At least I would have died fighting."

"Don't say things like that."

Alister finally returned with a small basin of water and a basket filled with bandages, a small container of incense, and a pipe.

"You're still wheezing," Alissa observed, grabbing the basket and basin from Alister and placing both at her feet. "You should take some of your medicine before I clean you up."

Ben merely crossed his arms over his chest as Alissa packed the pipe with the herb and used flint and steel from inside the basket to light it. She handed it to him and he took it with a small frown. She watched her brother inhale the smoke for a moment before turning to speak to Alister.

"Thank you, Alister. I'll take care of him from here, you can finish preparing dinner."

"Come get me if you need anything," the fiery haired male replied before disappearing back into the kitchen.

On the couch, Ben took a few more puffs before placing the pipe down on the nearby, wooden end table.

"Did that help any?" Alissa asked in concern, eyeing her brother intently for any abnormalities in his breathing.

"I suppose," Ben replied, leaning back into the couch.

"You aren't wheezing as much, so I'll take that as a positive sign. Here, sit up and I'll get you cleaned up."

Ben sighed before sitting up so he was in Alissa's reach. She grabbed the cloth that had been soaking in the basin and wrung it out a little before moving his bangs back and pressing the damp cloth to the shallow cut on his forehead.

"Why do you let them get to you?" she asked as she removed the cloth to check for bleeding and pressed it to the wound again.

"Why _don't_ you?" he retorted.

"Because that's what they're trying to do. They're just trying to get a rise out of us."

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me."

"Then why don't you do anything about it? We can't just let them treat you like this!"

"Just ignore them, Ben."

He suddenly pushed her aiding hands away from his face and clenched his jaw in frustration.

"What happened to you, Alissa?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Before Mother and Father died you'd never let those stupid townspeople talk about you like this!"

"They wouldn't be happy if they knew we were picking fights, Ben." She clenched the damp cloth in her fist tightly. She was starting to get frustrated now.

"They aren't here anymore, they can't do anything about it now."

"We still have their reputation to uphold, Ben!" Her tone of voice shocked both brother and sister alike. She hardly ever raised her voice like that. She saw the slightly hurt look in his eyes and ran a hand through her hair with a sigh.

"Look, Ben. I'm sorry, okay. I just promised Mother and Father that I would take care of you once they died. When you go around town picking fights with anyone who says something bad about us, it makes my job considerably more difficult. Promise me you'll at least _try_ to stop all this fighting?"

"Fine."

"Thank you. Now hold still. I don't think you need stitches but I should wrap this up so it doesn't get infected."

After putting some aloe cream on the wound, Alissa wrapped the bandage around his head and tied it off at the back of his head. Once his head was wrapped, she dipped the cloth into the basin again and then wiped the dried blood off from under his nose. She dropped the cloth back into the basin and began to lightly feel along her brother's nose. She stopped her movements when he hissed in pain.

"That hurt? Do you want me to stop?"

"No. Just keep going."

After a pause, she listened to what he had said and continued to feel his nose for any signs that the bone had been broken.

"I don't think it's broken, it'll just turn into a nasty bruise." She paused to pull her hand away from his nose and lean back in her chair to look over her brother. "Is there anything else you need me to check? Are your ribs okay?"

"They're fine, they're just bruised." He paused briefly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She paused to gather up the supplies and place them on the mantle of the fireplace. "Now you just rest for a little while and I'll go help Alister in the kitchen."

Ben mumbled a "fine" as Alissa made her way into the kitchen. She found Alister placing the night's dinner in the oven.

"Do you need help with anything?"

"I'm just about finished, but if you want to cut up some vegetables that would be a big help."

She nodded before grabbing the lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers they were going to have that night and placing them on the tabletop in front of her to cut up.

"What did you do today?" Alister asked as he grabbed some of the vegetables and another knife to help her cut everything up.

"Nothing too special. I just walked around town and stopped at the bookstore again. I ran into Zigfried."

Alister paused in his cutting to glance at her in concern.

"And how did that go?"

"How do you think? He's still the same old conceited and pompous Zigfried."

"What did he want this time?"

"The same thing as always, to talk about marriage." She let out an annoyed groan at the thought of it. "I don't understand why he doesn't get it! No one in this town does! They're only concerned with one thing and it makes me crazy!"

"Hey," he said soothingly, pausing to take hold of her chin and turn her gaze towards him. "It'll be alright. I will win the playwriting contest and I _will_ get you out of this town. I promise, Alissa."

"Do you really think that this year is finally the year?"

"Yes. After all, I did write a masterpiece."

His smile and tone of voice made her smile at him in return.

"Thank you, Alister. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'd probably murder someone," he laughed.

"Oh, without a doubt!" she agreed with a laugh. The duo laughed with each other before going back to cutting the vegetables in front of them. After a lengthy pause, he spoke again.

"Did you hear that another person went missing?"

His statement caused her to stop cutting the vegetables and turn to him in concern.

"What? Who?"

"The blacksmith's daughter."

"Sarah?"

"Yes. She's been missing since last night. She went into the woods after her pet dog and never came out."

"Maybe she just got lost." She dropped her gaze back to the vegetables and continued to chop them. She didn't like talking about all the people that went missing every new moon. For the past seventy-six years or so, every new moon, a townsperson disappeared and never came back. Some people believed that they just got lost and died in of starvation or hypothermia, but others thought it was a evil, dark creature that hunted the souls of the living.

"Maybe the other missing people got lost too," he replied, obviously not believing what she said.

"Maybe."

"Look, all I'm saying is that someone or _something_ is responsible for the disappearances. I bet it's the Dragon King."

"You realize that those are two different legends right?"

"No one ever said they weren't linked. Maybe the Dragon King does some kind of ritual to keep himself alive. After all, people only disappear on a new moon and the disappearances have been happening ever since the Royal Family disappeared."

"There's one thing wrong with your theory."

"What? That you didn't think of it first."

"No!" she responded with a smile and a smack to his shoulder. "That he's the _Dragon_ King. Dragons are protectors."

"That may be true, but dragons are also _monsters_ and you should never trust a monster."

"I guess," she replied with a shrug. "I just can't help but feel that the Dragon King shouldn't be feared. He's just misunderstood."

"You know what else he is?"

"What?"

"Not real." He grinned at her and nudged her shoulder before going back to cutting the vegetables.

"Yeah, I know. You're right," she sighed in defeat before returning her attention to the vegetables as well. "He's just a legend."

 **xxx**

"I just don't understand why you can't go," Ben complained to his sister while Alister continued to load up their caravan.

"Someone needs to stay here to run the shop, Ben."

"Then I'll stay and you can go. I went to the playwright festival with Alister last year, it's only fair that you get to go-."

"You're too young to stay here and run the shop by yourself for a week."

"Too young? I'm sixteen! I'll be just fine on my own for a week."

"Ben, my answer isn't going to change."

"Then let's close the shop and all go."

"You know we can't leave the shop unattended for that long. Besides, we have orders in that I need to get done this week."

"But why not?" Ben frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Because we need the money. Even if Alister wins the contest, which he will, we'll still need some money to support us once we move out of this damned town."

"She's not going to give up, Ben," Alister replied with a smile as he led over Alissa's white Belgian horse, Kisara. "Now come help me finish packing up the caravan."

Ben groaned in defeat before grabbing the last of the needed supplies and loading them into the back of the caravan.

Alissa approached her faithful horse and gently rubbed her nose. The beautiful horse neighed happily in response before digging her face playfully in Alissa's neck.

"Take care of Ben and Alister okay, Kisara?" She petted the horse's nose again. "And make sure you lead them in the right direction, you know how awful Alister is at finding his way."

"I can hear you!" Alister growled while Ben snickered next to him. The glare that the red head sent him caused Ben to hold back the rest of his chuckles and climb into the front of the caravan.

"Is that everything?" Alissa asked, approaching the red headed male.

"I think so," he replied, massaging the back of his neck with one hand. "We've got enough food and supplies to last the week, but we should be back before then."

Alissa smiled at him before throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"Good luck," she replied next to his ear.

"This will be the year, Alissa. I'll win and finally get us out of here."

The friends finally pulled away and Alister climbed onto the caravan and grabbed Kisara's reins.

"We'll be back before the week is out. Take care while we're gone."

"Bye, Alissa!" Ben called with a wave as the caravan started to move.

"Goodbye! Be careful! Don't get lost this time!"

"Shut up!" Alister yelled back with a laugh before the house disappeared behind them.

"Do you really think this will be the year, Alister?" Ben asked. "Will we finally be able to leave this damned town?"

"I _know_ this is the year."

What they didn't know was what was about to befall them.

* * *

 **Phew! This chapter ended up being quite a long one, but damn was it fun! I had not planned for it to be this long, but I'm pretty proud of it, except for a few things of course. Before I end this chapter, there are just a few things I'd like to talk about. Surprise, surprise right? XD**

 **Firstly, I know in the TACOM saga, Ben is dead and in the few times he has been shown, he's been very soft-spoken and not very intense. That is mostly because in the few times he has been featured, he was still very young. In this particular story, he's around sixteen or so and teenage boys usually have pretty intense personalities. Also, younger siblings are little shits when they finally reach teenage years so obviously I was going to make Ben a little shit. However, I did give his character a breathing problem because I still wanted him to have that sort of "weakness" or "timidness" that is Ben's character. So, rather than having those characteristics in his personality, I opted to have them describe his health…if that makes sense xD. Also, on the subject of Ben, the stuff he inhaled was Stramonium. It was a remedy used that was used quite frequently in the past that I believe started in Ancient Egypt.**

 **Second, Gaston and LeFou's identities are finally revealed! When I was first planning this story, I had originally planned to have Tony and Sam; two of my villain OCs from the TACOM saga, be Gaston and LeFou, but I decided that it wouldn't work for certain events that I wanted to happen later on in the story. Plus, as much as I hate Zigfreak, I love his character. He's just such a fun character to hate you know?**

 **Thirdly, on the subject of Leon, he was extremely difficult for me to write because I didn't want to make him too OOC. In the anime, Leon is a really sweet kid, so obviously giving him the cruel mannerisms of LeFou's character wouldn't be doing his character justice. Instead, I decided to make him less malicious and more...accidentally mean for lack of a better word XD. In other words, he says things that are mean but not with malicious intent. Hopefully that came across and he doesn't seem too OOC, but you guys will have to let me know.**

 **Fourth, if anyone is curious about wardrobe for the characters, I took inspiration from late 1750s European fashion since the story takes place in late fall of 1758 to the early spring of 1759 (since Hailey's comet was seen next in March of 1759 and that is the deadline of the curse). I know this is probably pointless information, but I figured I'd add it in in case anyone was curious about what the clothing mentioned looked like.**

 **Fifth, I had originally planned on having "the Bimbettes" or "Silly Girls" be part of this story and I had planned to have Rebecca, Vivian, and Mana be those parts, but I decided to leave those parts out because I find them to lack…I don't know…substance. Not Mana, Rebecca, and Vivian, but the "Bimbettes." Their characters are just so…dumb and I don't like them so I decided to leave them out. Hopefully you guys aren't too disappointed about that.**

 **Sixth, what did you guys think of Alister? When I write Alister, I usually write him a bit gentler than he is in the anime but still with a fiery attitude because he really is a softhearted person, even past his vengeful, slightly violent exterior. I don't know, he's just one of my favorite characters so I want to make sure I'm doing his character justice. Also, did you pick up on the Alister and Alissa part I added in? YAY FOR LOVE SHAPES.**

 **Lastly, once again, I'd like to give a big thank you to DarkQueenofDuels for being my beta, as well as any of you who read, reviewed, followed, or alerted this story. You guys are awesome. Sorry for being so long winded XD. Anyhoo, review, critique, ask questions, whatever else you like. I'll talk to you guys next update.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! Well, here we go with the next chapter! I've seriously been listening to Beauty and the Beast nonstop for the past few days so I felt inspired to work on this story even though it isn't technically next in the rotation…oops xD. Also, this chapter is a LONG one. Anyhoo, read on and enjoy!**

* * *

"Alister," Ben began, glancing around the woods and pulling his coat tighter around his shoulders. "I think we-."

"Ben," Alister warned, steel colored eyes narrowed meticulously at the page of parchment he held out in front of him.

"But, Alister we-."

"Not a word, Ben."

"Alister," Ben replied, clearly annoyed.

"Ben," Alister replied just as testily. "I said not a wo-."

"We took a wrong turn! We're lost!"

"You think I don't know that?" Alister snapped, clumping the map in his hand. With his ego thoroughly bruised, the red head frowned and chucked the crumpled up map at Ben. "If you know the woods so well then you navigate!"

"Fine! I will!" The ebony haired teen straightened out the map and focused on it intently. "We're going to the World Playwright's Festival right?"

"Mhm," Alister answered, hopping off the caravan to take a look around for any landmarks. "Pass me the lantern. It's too dark to see." Alister held his hand out expectantly as Ben heaved a sigh, grabbed one of the lit lanterns, and hopped off the caravan to hand it to the red head. Alister shone the light around him to illuminate the darkness. The branches of the trees stretched to the sky like bony fingers reaching for the full moon. Brown, decayed leaves danced across the dirt road and through the air when the wind blew. The dirt path was muddy, littered with heavy stones, and overgrown with weeds.

"None of this looks familiar," Alister replied as he ambled around with the lantern.

"Well of course it wouldn't look familiar, we took a wrong turn," Ben replied brazenly, his eyes never leaving the map.

"I'm going to tell your sister that you were acting like an imp."

"And I'll tell her that you got us lost."

The red head growled in annoyance when he felt water drip on him from above.

"Damn it! It's starting to rain. We need to get out of here and find shelter before the weather gets worse."

No sooner had he said that, a deafening crack of thunder roared through the sky, followed by a downpour of rain.

"Shit! Ben, get in the caravan!" Alister shouted over the downpour as he flipped up his hood and climbed back onto the caravan.

"Where the hell did this storm come from?" Ben asked as he climbed into the shelter of the caravan.

The duo jumped and Kisara neighed in fear when a streak of lightning flashed and a loud clap of thunder echoed through the air.

"Get us out of here, Alister!"

"I'm way ahead of you, Ben! Let's go, Kisara!" Alister pulled on the reins and Kisara came to life. She neighed loudly in compliance and charged forward through the forest. The wind zipped past the travelers and the rain pelted them. Alister looked around frantically, trying desperately to find shelter from the storm that had become so thick that it was almost impossible to see. The flames from the lanterns had long gone out due to the rain and wind, leaving them in darkness, apart from the occasional streak of lightning that burst through the sky.

"Where the hell are we?" Ben yelled over the storm as he was tossed around the inside of the caravan.

"The hell if I know! All I know is that we need to get the hell out of this storm! Whoa, Kisara! Easy!"

"How are we going to do that if we don't even know where we are?"

"Stop criticizing me and let me concentrate!"

Suddenly, a loud burst of thunder exploded across the sky, destroying the last of the Belgian horse's composure. Kisara went wild, ripping the reins from Alister's hands. The caravan shook violently until Ben was thrown out with a startled yell. The younger Todd crashed to the carpet of mud and leaves, wheezing.

"Ben!" Alister yelled in concern, bolting off the caravan and to Ben's side. He kneeled down next to the younger boy and helped him into a sitting position.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Ben coughed, trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him.

Another roar of thunder sounded and Kisara neighed loudly in fear. She reared back onto her hind legs before charging back the way they came, leaving the two boys alone.

"Damn it! Kisara!" Alister yelled after the fleeing horse.

"Well, that's just perfect! What the hell do we do now?" Ben asked as he pulled himself to his feet.

"We need to get out of this storm. We can figure something else out once the storm passes."

"And where the hell are we supposed to go? We have no idea where we are and it's almost pitch black!"

"I don't know, a cave or something! There has to be somewhere to take cover from this rain!"

The sound of a twig snapping and a low growl made both boys jump.

"What was that?" Ben whispered.

Several pairs of glowing, yellow eyes appeared around the two boys.

"Alister, are those-."

"Shh," Alister interrupted in a low voice.

The owners of the yellow eyes finally stepped close enough for the boys to see them. A pack of seven ferocious, white wolves surrounded them. Their mouths were curled up in a snarl and drool dripped from their mouths full of sharp teeth.

"Ben, on the count of three we need to run," Alister whispered, keeping his gaze locked on the wolves.

"What? Are you crazy?" Ben murmured back. "We can't outrun a pack of Silver Fangs! They'll eat us for sure!"

"They'll eat us if we stay here! We have to try. Maybe we can find a way to get away from them."

Ben swallowed around the nervous lump in his throat and nodded slowly. Although he didn't necessarily agree with Alister's idea, they didn't really have much of a choice. There was no way the two of them could fight off a pack of wolves. Their best chance of survival was to run away and hope that they found someone who could help.

"Are you ready, Ben?"

"Yes."

"One." The two boys pulled their coats tighter around them so the long fabric wouldn't hinder their running.

"Two." The boys flexed their legs in preparation for their take off.

"Three!"

As soon as those words left the red head's mouth, the two boys sprinted away from the wolves. They heard long howls from behind before the wolves began to chase after them.

"Keep running, Ben! Don't look back!" Alister shouted, pushing Ben in front of him and picking up speed.

The two boys could hear the wolves snarling and closing in from behind them.

"They're right behind us!" Ben screamed.

"I know! Keep running!"

Despite the tiredness in their legs and the heaviness in their chests, the two boys pushed themselves to run faster. In the distance, Ben caught sight of an ironclad gate and his hope soared.

"Alister, I see something! I see a gate!"

"I see it too! Keep going! We're almost there!"

Finally, the two reached the gate, and without taking even a moment to catch their breaths, they heaved it open. The ironclad gate screeched in protest as the duo shoved it open. The duo slammed it shut just as the wolves reached them. The wolves snarled through the closed gate, angered that they had lost their dinner. Finally, the pack of wolves slowly slunk away into the dark forest.

"We made it!" Alister sighed in relief.

Ben nodded in response, unable to speak due to his wheezing. Now that they were safe and the adrenaline had stopped flowing, Ben became painfully aware of how hard it was to breathe. He struggled desperately to take deep breaths, but no matter how much air he took in, it didn't seem to be enough.

"Ben?" Alister asked in concern, approaching the doubled over, wheezing teen. "Ben!"

"I can't breathe," Ben wheezed, holding his chest.

"Easy," Alister replied, rubbing Ben's back in an attempt to stop his wheezing.

"Al-," Ben coughed.

"Okay, Ben, hold on. I'll help you. I just need-."

"I can't breathe." Ben dropped to the ground in a coughing fit.

"Ben!" Alister knelt down next to Ben and attempted to push his rain soaked hair out of his line of vision. Suddenly, something dawned on the redhead. He reached into his coat pocket and his finger connected with Ben's wooden pipe. _Thank God_ , Alister thought in relief. Before Alister and Ben left Draakhaven, Alissa had made Alister pack extra medicine into his coat pocket in addition to the medicine in the caravan in case an emergency came up. At that moment, Alister was thankful that he had listened to her.

"Hold on, Ben." He pulled out the herbs that were in a small pouch in his pocket and packed the pipe. He rummaged around in his coat pocket until he found the flint and steel he had used early to light the lanterns on the caravan. _Thank God the rain didn't get it wet_ , he thought as he lit the pipe. He quickly brought the pipe to Ben's lips and prompted him to breathe in. Alister sighed in relief when Ben's breathing started to even out.

"You're okay. You're going to be okay, Ben," Alister assured, soothingly rubbing the younger boy's back and pushing the hair out of his face. "We need to get you out of this storm."

Ben could only nod his head in agreement, too tired from the attack to do much else.

"I'll carry you," Alister replied. He kneeled down in front of Ben and gently helped him stand while supporting his weight. He picked Ben up from under his knees and prompted the younger to wrap his arms around his neck for support. Once Alister made sure that Ben was situated comfortably on his back, Alister turned towards where the stone path lead. His eyes almost popped out of his skull at the sight of the castle in front of him.

"Whoa."

The castle was made out of white, evenly corbelled, stone. Several towers and turrets rose up from the right and left of the main house. A covered parapet walk flanked the far right side of the castle while an uncovered one flanked the left. A keep rose high above the other towers in the back, right corner of the castle. A battlement stood near the right parapet of the castle. A machicolation was situated above the footbridge that lead up to the large, heavy, wooden doors. The roof of the castle was a jumble of spires, trapezoids, and cones with gothic style windows linked together with flying buttresses. Stained glass windows and balconies littered the whole castle. A cobbled path of gray stone went from the black, iron gate up to the heavy doors of the castle. The lightning flashing behind it made the already creepy castle even more so.

Alister pushed down the apprehension he felt, adjusted Ben's position on his back, and walked up the cobbled path towards the door. He reached for the knocker shaped like a dragonhead and banged it loudly against the wooden door.

"Hello? We need some help!" the red head cried, abandoning the knocker and instead banging on the door with his fist. "We need help! Is anybody in there?" _Don't tell me we stumbled upon a damn castle that has nobody living in it_ , Alister thought in frustration as he banged on the doors even harder. Finally, the doors gave way and the duo stumbled inside. _Thank God someone was here to let us in!_

"We apologize for the intrusion, but we lost our horse. And my friend, he's sick. If you let us stay, just until the storm passes we could pay you for your troubles and-." Alister stopped midsentence when he noticed that no one was there. _No one's here? But, then who opened the door?_

"Hello?" Alister called, scanning the empty grand hall. "Hello!"

"Where are we? Alister?" Ben asked weakly before dissolving into another coughing fit.

"I don't know, Ben. It's okay; you're going to be okay. We're going to get you help, okay? Hello! We need help!" As he walked down the hall, he started to feel his strength fading him. With Ben's well being on his mind, he forced himself to trudge onwards. There had to be someone in the castle, there had to be. After all, someone _had_ let them in. After everything that had happened, the strength finally left his body and he collapsed to his knees. Ben's unconscious form slipped from Alister's back and onto the tiled floor. Alister's vision gradually began to grow black along the edges. The last thing he saw before the darkness finally claimed him was a pair of green, clawed feet.

 **xxx**

"You idiot! What the hell were you thinking letting them in here?" a voice hissed as Alister slowly started to regain consciousness. He tried to fight through the fog of unconsciousness and focus on the voices that were ringing in his head.

"What were we supposed ta do? We couldn't leave 'em out in da storm!" another voice, this one with a Brooklyn accent, argued. "Plus, ya heard 'em. One of 'em is sick, we couldn't leave 'em out ta freeze!"

"I understand that! I understand that you wanted to help, but do you really think that letting them in here is going to help them? What do you think the Master is going to do when he comes down here and sees us harboring trespassers? Not to mention they're sitting on his favorite couch! The Master will be furious!"

"Den we won't tell him, Trist. What he don't know won't hurt 'em."

"Maybe Joey is right, Tristan," a third, more timid voice spoke. "Maybe we can get them all rested and out of here before the Master even wakes up. He'll never know."

"He'll never know? Do you two honestly think that will work? Of course he'll know! In fact, I'd be surprised if he doesn't know already!"

"Fine den, if you're so smart, what do ya suggest we do den, Tristan?"

Alister finally recovered from the haziness in his head enough to open his eyes. _Ben!_ Alister sat up quickly, ignoring the dizziness in his head and looked to his side. He was relieved to find Ben sleeping next to him with a thick, fur blanket pulled all the way up to his chin. The red head realized that the two of them were resting on a large couch in a living room with a fire blazing in the fire place. Satisfied that Ben was safe and taken care of, Alister turned to thank the three voices, undoubtedly the people who had helped them. Alister was shocked and alarmed, not to be looking at humans, but three different monsters.

The first monster was a medium sized, furred, green creature. Large imp ears stuck out from the monster's head with a deep pink colored horn sitting in between them. Large bat like wings with deep pink spikes shot out from the creatures back. Spikes protruded from the elbows of the creature. The monster stood on all fours, with long claws extending from each hand and foot.

The second monster was larger than the first. It was a giant, ox like creature with brown colored skin stretched over bulging muscles. Large, curved horns extended from the head covered in dark brown hair. Brown fur surrounded the monster's wrists and forearms like gauntlets. A purple loincloth was wrapped around the monster's waist. The size of the monster combined with the red eyes, large teeth, and clawed hands and feet made the creature appear even more threatening.

The third creature looked similar to the second one. Like the second creature, the third one was ox like and large. Deep maroon colored skin was stretched over equally bulging muscles and horns curved out from deep purple, almost black, hair. Fur the same color of the monster's hair, surrounded the monster's wrists and forearms. A brown loincloth was wrapped around the monster's waist. This monster had yellow eyes, but was in no way less sinister than its ox like counterpart.

"What the hell?" Alister exclaimed in surprise. The red head's exclamation roused Ben from his sleep. He rubbed at his head and sat up slowly.

"Alister? What hap-?" The young boy stopped speaking when he caught sight of the monsters. "Shit! What the hell are you?"

"Hey! We just saved ya, da least ya could do is be polite!" the maroon skinned ox snapped. The creature's outburst caused both Alister and Ben to jump. The creature guiltily rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah, sorry. Its just dat we haven't seen humans in a while. Sometimes I forget dat we can be a little intimidatin'. "

"A little?" Ben asked sarcastically, earning a stern glare from Alister and a nudge to keep quiet.

"Who are you guys?"

"I'm Yugi," the green creature replied, offering a clawed hand to the two intruders. "I'm sorry if we scared you."

"I'm Joey," the maroon skinned introduced.

"I'm Tristan," the third creature replied.

"Uh, I'm Alister," the red head said, finally feeling comfortable enough with the monsters. "This is Ben."

"It's nice to meet you," Ben replied, after he had calmed down enough.

"Well, now that the introductions are done, we need to get them out of here," Tristan replied urgently. "It's bad enough that we even let them in here in the first place!"

"We're sorry, we didn't mean to intrude," Alister replied. "I just need to get Ben out of the storm. We can leave in the morning if it isn't too much trouble."

"Ah, don't even worry about it!" Joey cut in. "Trist' is just worried about da Master, but he's asleep so ya guys are okay."

"Maybe if we just let the Master know he'd be okay with it," Yugi offered.

"Ah, dat won't work. We all know how da Master is, it's best not ta tell him. As long as we get 'em out before da Master wakes up, everythin' will be A-Okay."

Shortly after Joey spoke, an ear shattering, Draconian roar sounded through the castle.

"Damn! He's awake!"

"You guys need to get them out of here now!" a voice said from behind them. The group turned towards the entrance of the room to identify the voice. A small creature with dark brown fur and small green claws and feet floated in the doorway. Gold and purple eyes were narrowed in concern and small, green, cherub like wings fluttered nervously behind the monster.

"Mokuba-," Yugi started.

"My brother is awake and he is _furious_! You need to get them out of here now!"

Another roar shook the whole castle and brought everyone to their knees. Alister instantly grabbed onto Ben and held him protectively. The inhabitants of the castle all gathered together in preparation to protect the intruders, though they knew they could do nothing to stop their Master.

A huge gust of wind roared through the room, putting out all the candles and shrouding the room in darkness.

"Alister, we need to get out of here," Ben trembled fearfully.

"It'll be alright, Ben," Alister replied in an attempt to calm the younger boy. Suddenly, the sound of large wing beating filled the room, followed by the sound of someone landing close by the two intruders. Alister turned and came face to face with a pair of deep, blazing, blue eyes with dragon like pupils.

Alister gasped in shock. _The Dragon King?_ _Just like in Alissa's favorite story_ , Alister thought. _How is this possible?_

The dragon like eyes stared intensely into the silver ones. The Dragon King's lip curled in mock humor.

"Is that all you can do? Is that all you came for? To stare at me like I'm some _monster_?"

"Master-," Tristan began, in an attempt to explain the situation to the King. The Dragon King's harsh gaze made Tristan fall silent.

"Don't blame 'em! We're da ones dat brought 'em in here!"

"Silence!" the Dragon King hissed.

"Please, Kaiba," Yugi begged. "They just needed shelter from the storm! Ben is sick and-."

The Dragon King growled deeply at Yugi, causing the smaller creature to fall silent.

"We meant no harm," Alister started. Before he could speak another word, he felt Ben being pulled out of his arms. Ben screamed in fright as the two were pried apart.

"Wait! Please don't hurt him!" Alister begged, without thinking.

The Dragon King's eyes narrowed before a harsh smile appeared on his lips.

"Don't hurt him? Of course that would be your first assumption. I'm a monster right? Tch, well, that's unfortunate. I suppose now I'll have to punish you for not knowing how to address a _King_."

"Master, please," Yugi begged.

"All of you get out," the Master ordered. "I'm taking these two to the tower."

"But, Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed. "They really didn't mean any harm! They needed help!"

"They shouldn't have trespassed here," the King hissed back.

"Seto, please! You can't lock them up there! One of them is sick and he'll-."

"One of them is sick?" he asked, his eyes briefly flashing with concern. The concern in his eyes disappeared as the blue eyes hardened once more. "That isn't my problem. They shouldn't have trespassed!"

"What if I was sick, Seto? Wouldn't you want someone to help me? We couldn't just leave them out there!"

The Dragon King released a low growl and clenched his fists.

"Very well. Tristan, take the kid to the guest room in the east wing."

"But what about Alister?" Ben spoke up in concern.

The Dragon King smirked at the young boy before grabbing onto the red head's forearm harshly.

"Your little friend? I'm afraid he'll be staying in the tower."

"What! No! You can't!"

"I can and I will. Tristan, take him to his room."

"No! You can't lock him in some tower!" Ben yelled, squirming as Tristan lightly grabbed hold of his arm. "Let go! Alister!"

"Ben! Let me go!"

"You can't do this! Let me go!" Ben yelled, squirming more intensely. He squirmed until he was finally able to get his arm out of Tristan's grasp. The force of his squirming caused him to lose his balance. His head connected with the side of the fire place as he fell. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

 **xxx**

When Ben returned to consciousness, his head was pounding. _Ow, my head_. He groaned, and touched his head. He stopped when his hand connected with a cloth bandage that was wrapped around where the pain was radiating from. Memories of what happened began to flood back. He and Alister had gotten lost in the woods. They found a castle after being chased by a pack of Silver Fangs. The Master of the castle had gotten upset that he and Alister trespassed. He and Alister had been separated and during the struggle, he'd fallen and hit his head. _That monster bandaged my head_ , Ben thought in surprise. _Why would the monster do that?_ He looked around the room and took everything in. The room was small, with two large windows and light blue walls. The bed he was laying on was relatively large with dark blue bedding and a large, wooden canopy. A mahogany dresser stood next to the bed. _I need to get out of here and find Alister._

"What do you think you're doing?" a deep voice demanded from the dark hallway.

Ben turned around quickly, his heart racing in fear. His eyes locked with a familiar pair of draconian ones.

"Where's Alister?" Ben demanded, gathering his courage and taking a step towards the heavily shadowed Dragon King.

"That's none of your concern. Get back in your room, it's foolish to be walking around with a head injury."

"No! Tell me where Alister is now!"

"I will do nothing of the sort. Now get back in the room before I lose my patience."

"You can't just keep us here!"

"I can do whatever I please. I am the Master of this castle."

"That doesn't excuse you from being an ass! You won't get away with keeping us here!"

"You're really trying my patience now."

"Alister and I _will_ get out of here and when we do you'll be sorry!"

Before Ben could even blink, the Dragon King was towering over him and lifting him up by his collar.

"I show you leniency by allowing you to stay somewhere other than the tower and this is how you repay me? By trying to break out your little friend. I even had my physician tend to your head injury. Do you realize how ungrateful you're being, you little pest! I could have very easily locked you up in that tower and left you to rot."

"Let me go, you monster!" Ben screamed, thrashing in the Dragon King's hold.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. _A monster. That's all anyone sees,_ the Dragon King thought with a frown. Suddenly a cold smirk worked its way across his lips. _They want a monster? I'll show them a monster._

"Tch, a monster? Well, perhaps it's time to show you how much of a monster I can be."

* * *

 **First of all, some of you guys are probably wondering why I decided to have** _ **both**_ **Alister and Ben get imprisoned by Seto; although I'm sure you guys expected it based on last chapter xD. Anyhoo, the reason for that is because I couldn't find a plausible reason to have Ben end up at the castle by himself. Since there is a legend about the woods surrounding Draconia, Alissa would NOT allow Ben to venture into the woods by himself, especially since he has breathing problems (asthma for those who are curious about what ailment he has). So that was my reasoning for having both Alister and Ben end up imprisoned. I just wanted to clear up confusion…if there even was any xD.**

 **Secondly, I know I didn't go into that much detail describing Seto and the rest of the inhabitants of the castle. The reason I did that is because I want to wait until Alissa meets the inhabitants to describe them. Why? To build suspense! For those who are familiar with the movie, you'll remember that we actually didn't** _ **see**_ **the Beast until Belle arrived at the castle. The other times we saw him before, he was heavily shadowed. So, yeah…suspense.**

 **Thirdly, I decided to have Seto initially be more lenient with Ben and only give him a harsh punishment in response to Ben trying to escape. I decided this because I feel like Seto would have some empathy towards a child, especially one who is the same age as Mokuba (although technically Mokuba would be in his eighties since it has been seventy five years since the curse was cast. However, that doesn't matter because the curse prevents the inhabitants of the castle from aging). Also, Mokuba just knows how to work his brother.**

 **Fourth, the design for the castle took QUITE A BIT of research, but it was fun research nonetheless. Since the story takes place in the mid eighteenth century, I had to research castles during that time, as well as castles that are several decades older than that since the castle has been around since before the curse was even cast. So, I have a couple inspirations for it. The Castle of Great Masters in Rhodes, Greece, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany (this one actually reminded me of the castle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast), Lichtenstein Castle in Baden- Wurttemberg, Germany, and Falkenstein Castle in Falkenstein, Germany. All of these castles had some features of what I imagined the castle to look like. But seriously, ya'll should look up pictures of these places because they are GORGEOUS. Hopefully I did an okay job describing the castle cause it required a lot of research for me to be able to name the various different parts xD.**

 **Fifth, I'm sure some of you are wondering why I didn't use the Dark Magician as Yugi's monster and the Red Eyes Black Dragon as Joey's monster. I wanted everyone in the castle to become monsters, and the Dark Magician was just too human for my liking. The reason I chose not to go with Red Eyes Black Dragon for Joey was because I LOVED the idea of him and Tristan being similar monsters since they're sort of the "dynamic duo" of the story. Also, this is a random piece of information, but I decided to have the Sorceror turn Mokuba into a Winged Kuriboh to sort of spite Seto and Mokuba since Seto HATES Kuriboh. Anyway, I hope I've cleared up any confusion, if there was any xD.**

 **Sixth, I thought I would let you guys know the positions of the servants that we've met so far just to clear up any confusion that may arise. Joey is a Flame Battleguard and is the Servant of Entertainment. Tristan is a Swamp Battleguard and is the Head Servant. Yugi is a Feral Imp and is the Maître d'. And last but not least, Mokuba is a Winged Kuriboh and is the Prince xD.**

 **And lastly, once again, thank you to AbyssalDreamer (formally known as DarkQueenofDuels) for being my beta. Seriously, she rocks my socks. Anyhoo! That's enough babbling from me. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. As usual, feel free to review, question, critique, whatever you like! I'll talk to ya'll next update!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! So, the trailer for the live-action Beauty and the Beast is finally out and I am SO excited. Watching the trailer made me want to work on this story, so here I am! Thank you for the reviews last chapter. I'm glad that you guys seem to be enjoying reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it.**

* * *

 _And so the Dragon King waited. He waited for the one who could break the curse and set him free…_

Alissa sighed as she closed the worn cover of her favorite book and slid it back into her knapsack. _Ugh! That damned ending never ceases to make me mad! I wish I could know what happened to the Dragon King! I wish I could know if someone set him free._ A sudden knock on the front door pulled her from her thoughts. _That must be Mr. Olsman to pick up Greta's birthday gift,_ she thought as she pulled herself off of the couch. When she opened the door, she was surprised to find, not Mr. Olsman, but a familiar pink haired suitor.

"Oh, Zigfried," Alissa greeted, forcing a polite smile onto her face. "What a…uh…pleasant surprise."

"It's nice to see you too, Darling," he replied, misinterpreting her words and pushing his way past her and into her home.

"Please come in," she muttered to herself sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. She closed the door and entered the sitting room to find the pink haired man already lounging comfortably on the sofa. He had kicked off his riding boots and propped his feet up on the ottoman in front of the couch. After looking at him, Alissa realized that the conceited, pink haired man was dressed much fancier than usual. He wore blush colored, silk breeches with rose gold buttons down the sides of the legs and holding the fall front in place at his front. He wore a matching breasted jacket and waistcoat with roses embroidered in gold thread on the shoulders.

"I'll never understand how you can live in such a place, Alissa," he replied, looking distastefully around the sitting room.

"I'm perfectly fine with living here, thank you."

"A woman like you deserves to live some place better. You deserve a large, extravagant home, filled with lavish rooms and expensive treasures." He paused to stand and slowly approach her with a predatory gleam in his eyes. He stopped when he caught sight of his handsome face in the mirror. He flashed his reflection a smile and moved his face from side to side to examine his porcelain skin.

 _Ugh, how shallow can he be?_

He ran his tongue over his straight, white teeth before continuing. "Loyal servants to wait on you hand and foot like a Queen, the respect and love of the whole town, and most importantly-."

"I don't need any of that stuff. I'm happy here," she interrupted, backing away from him until her back hit the shop counter. She mentally cursed herself when both of his hands went on the countertop on either side of her, boxing her in.

"Don't interrupt, Darling. You know I hate that. Now, as I was saying, most importantly, you deserve the _perfect_ husband. A husband that is handsome, rich, educated, well known, and well liked to spoil you with whatever your heart desires and ravish you every night until the day you die."

Her lips curled in disgust at the word ravish and she quickly ducked under one of his arms and put distance between herself and him.

"That seems a little unrealistic to me, Zigfried," she replied, trying her best to maintain her patience and her temper. _Stay calm, Alissa. Think of your parents._

"And do you know who that perfect husband is, Alissa?" he asked, closing in on her again until she was backed up again the front door.

 _I knew that's what this visit was about_ , she thought. _This is what all his visits are about._

"Me, Darling," he replied when she didn't answer.

"Oh, Zigfried. I'm flattered." _Disgusted is more like it_. "But I can't."

"Of course you can. Just think of it, the two of us living at my estate with our five children. We'll live like royalty. All it takes is one little word." He winked at her before slowly leaning in to kiss her.

"Really, Zigfried. It's kind of you to ask," she stuttered, groping behind her for the doorknob. She finally found it and grasped it tightly. "I just…don't deserve you." In one quick motion, she dodged his lips and turned the knob of the door. The pink haired man stumbled through the now open doorway in surprise and landed in the puddle of mud just outside the door.

All thoughts and attempts of protecting her parent's reputation left her when she saw the large horse drawn carriage, a band, and most of the town standing outside her house with shocked expressions. The townspeople glanced nervously between Zigfried and Alissa as the dark haired girl's anger began to boil.

"What the hell is this, Zigfried? You arranged a whole wedding without my consent! What about a Crying the Banns? I never agreed to any of this! I never _will_! Do you hear me, Zigfried? I will never marry you! Ever! Not even if you were the last living thing on this Earth! Now get off of my property and never bother me with this bullshit again!" She slammed the door and bolted out of her house through the back. She grasped the railing of the back porch and breathed heavily.

"He actually asked me to marry him! Me! The wife of that boorish blowhard! No way in hell!" She ran down the steps of the porch and through the yard. Even when her breathing started to grow shallow, she didn't stop. She needed to get as far away from these people as possible. She stopped in the middle of the field of dandelions and yellow daises and collapsed onto her back. Her chest heaved from her run as she tried to think about what just happened. She felt tears of frustration and embarrassment start to prick at the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall. _How could he do that? What the hell is wrong with those people? How can they be okay with just living their ordinary lives? I want so much more than this! I want adventure, not to be stuck in this stupid town, popping out children until I die!_ She rolled onto her stomach, plucked up a nearby dandelion, and held it in her thin fingers. _I want to get out of this stupid town! I will get out of this town, no matter what it takes!_ She inhaled and blew, the cottonseeds floating into the distance.

A high-pitched whine broke her from her thoughts.

"Kisara!" the dark haired girl shouted in concern.

The white horse came bolting out of the nearby forest in the direction of her owner. The dark haired girl caught the reins, stroked the horse's nose, and cooed gently until the horse calmed down. Alissa's stomach dropped when she saw that the caravan was empty.

"Kisara, where are Alister and Ben? Are they hurt?"

The majestic horse neighed in understanding and tossed her head in the direction of the forest.

"Oh no, we've got to find them! Can you lead me to them, Kisara?"

The white horse neighed and nodded her head up and down.

Alissa quickly bolted back to the house and grabbed her small knapsack and blue traveling coat. She threw on her coat and ran back out to Kisara. She unhooked the caravan and climbed on top of her white stead.

"Go, Kisara. Hurry!"

 **xxx**

"Come on, Kisara! Keep going!" Alissa tapped Kisara lightly with her heels to get the horse to go faster. _I need to find them before it gets dark! The woods are no place to be at night!_

Hearing her master's command, the white horse pushed herself faster. She came to a halt when she reached a place that smelt familiar to her. She topped and began sniffing the ground severely.

"What is it, Kisara? Is this where you lost them?" Alissa asked, running a hand through her horse's mane. The horse neighed in response and nodded her head up and down. Alissa hopped off the horse and begin to search the perimeter. _Damn it! Last nights storm would have washed away any footprints they may have left behind!_ It didn't take long for Alissa to catch sight of the familiar, dark brown book sitting next to one of the bare bushes. _Shit! That's Alister's portfolio!_ She picked it up, wiped the cover free of mud and dirt, and glanced around the wooded area. _They were here. It must've fallen out of the caravan when they got separated from Kisara._

"Can you find them, Kisara?" Alissa asked, holding the portfolio up for her horse to sniff.

The horse neighed in response and began sniffing the ground as Alissa climbed back onto her back.

"Do the best you can, Kisara. They couldn't have gone too far in the storm. The first place Alister and Ben would have gone is somewhere to get shelter from the storm. There has to be a cave or something near by."

The white horse began to walk, continuing to sniff the ground for traces of Ben and Alister. Alissa glanced around as she rode, hoping to find even the smallest sign of her two loved ones. As she rode, the sky began to grow dark and the wind began to grow cold. She shivered and pulled her traveling coat tighter around her shoulders. Her attention was pulled away from the woods when Kisara neighed loudly.

"Whoa," Alissa gasped, her mouth gaping open at the magnificent and eerie castle standing behind the iron gates ahead of her. She hopped off of Kisara and gently stroked the horse's nose.

"I'll be right back, Kisara. Stay right here." _As if she's going to go anywhere else._ The dark haired girl approached the gate and heaved it open with a grunt. The way the white castle stood tall against the dark sky reminded her of one of her many books. She swallowed her apprehension and pushed on; hoping that her brother and Alister were somewhere inside.

 **xxx**

"I told you we shouldn't have let them in here!" Tristan stated harshly.

"Well what were we suppose ta do? We couldn't leave 'em out there ta freeze ta death!" Joey argued back.

"Well now they're freezing up in the tower because you just _had_ to be hospitable! I understand that you were trying to be nice but you put them in danger!"

"Ya were right, Tristan! Ya don't need ta rub it in, I feel bad enough as it is! I didn't know Kaiba would get dat upset! Usually he just sorta roars at 'em and gets 'em ta leave."

"Well, because usually you don't smuggle intruders in under my brother's nose, change their clothes, and let them sleep on my brother's favorite couch," Mokuba piped up. "He usually catches them at the gates and scares them away before they even get in."

"Well maybe he needs ta stop being such an asshole!"

"Don't talk about Seto that way! Remember he is still your _King_!"

"That may be da case, but we're never gonna break dis curse if he keeps his pessimistic attitude!"

"Well, can you really blame him, Joey?" Yugi asked. "The kingdom he was cursed protecting shunned and turned against him. He can't even leave the castle grounds like we can. He's a prisoner in a place that used to be his home."

"Dat's no excuse! At least he's still part human! We're the ones who are monsters! If he keeps dis up the curse will never be broken!"

"Back off, Joey! My brother is trying!"

"No he ain't! All he does is scare people away! He's never gonna find anyone _or_ break dis curse if he acts like dis!"

"Yes, because you're the relationship expert. Remind me again how pining after Mai is going?"

"Dat tears it, ya wanna go, fur ball?"

"Bring it on, Nimrod!"

"Hello?" a voice called, causing the two arguing monsters to pause.

"Wait, guys, stop! Do you hear that?" Tristan asked.

"Ben? Alister? Hello?" the voice called again, this time a little closer.

The foursome of monsters peeked their heads out of the living room and spotted a tall, ebony haired girl walking through the entry hall.

"It's a girl!" Joey exclaimed in a whisper.

"We see that, Joey. We aren't blind," Tristan replied.

The foursome quickly ducked back into the living room as the tall girl passed by.

"Hello? Is anyone here? I'm looking for my friend and my brother!"

"Maybe she's come ta break dis curse!" Joey whispered in excitement. "She's da one! Da one we've been waitin' for!"

"Now, Joey, don't get ahead of yourself," Tristan replied patiently. "We've been over this before, you're elevating the situation. Again."

"Well she's here isn't she? I've gotta go tell Mai and the others! They'll be so excited! We're finally gonna be human again!" Without another word, Joey bolted off to find the other members of the staff.

"Hey! Wait for us, Joey!" Yugi called as he and Mokuba followed him.

Tristan crossed his arms over his chest, now completely alone and sighed. "They're losing it."

 **Xxx**

"Alister! Ben! If you're here _please_ answer me!" Alissa screamed. _Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where are they?_ She stopped in front of a heavy door with iron bolts. She heaved it open and peered inside. A stone staircase spiraled upwards towards the top of the castle. The only light came from a small oil lamp hanging on the dark, cobbled stonewall. She grabbed the lamp from the hook and slowly made her way up the flight of stairs. Her hands touched the damp walls as she made her way up. She held the lamp higher as she continued up the stairs, the dank smell and small space making her feel more and more uneasy.

Finally, she reached the top and found herself in the uppermost room of the tower. Aside from the moon shining through a window close to the ceilings, the round room had very little light. A heavy wooden door with barred windows stood against the back wall. The sound of coughing and quiet shushing made her stomach drop.

She rushed to the door and peered inside to find Alister and Ben sitting on the floor of a dark and dank chamber. Both of them shivered from the cold and huddled close together for warmth.

"Ben! Alister!" she cried in relief.

"Alissa!" Ben cried happily, rushing to the bars.

"What happened?" Alissa asked, reaching a hand through the bars to grab her brother's hand.

"Alissa, I was so scared I'd never see you again! H-he locked us in here and-!"

"Who locked you in here?" she demanded. "I'll kill him!"

"You shouldn't have come," Alister choked out.

"What the hell do you mean, Alister? _Of course_ I was going to come for you!"

"Listen, Alissa. You have to find a way to get Ben out of here and leave now."

"What? No way! I am not leaving either of you here! We all leave or none of us do!"

"Alissa, for once just listen to me! You have to get Ben out of here and leave now! You have to leave before he finds out you're here!"

A chilling voice from behind her caused Alissa to freeze in fear.

"Too late."

* * *

 **Firstly, this chapter took me a little longer than I expected due to the "wedding" part. I wanted to portray eighteenth century wedding customs as accurately as possible, so it required a LARGE amount of research, especially since marriage has changed quite a bit since the eighteenth century, though I will admit I did take some creative license since the story takes place in a fantasy world. Despite this, most of the customs are accurate to the time that this story takes place. Although the marriage didn't happen this chapter (and wasn't even going to xD), I wanted to portray the customs since Zigfried had every intention of marrying Alissa. For those who are wondering a Crying the Banns is the announcement of a couple intending to marry. If anyone was against the marriage, he or she would say so during the Crying the Banns, which took place at church three Sundays in a row. However, people could get out of two weeks of a Crying the Banns if they got a marriage bond (I believe William Shakespeare did this with his wife…don't quote me though xD). Technically, since Alissa did not give her consent to marry, the marriage would be deemed invalid, but Zigfried is a rich asshole and could** ** _very_** **easily pay his way out of this technicality, that's what I think anyway xD.**

 **Second, I'm sure the whole thing with Kisara sniffing out Ben and Alister may be weird and seem unlikely, but horses actually have a very, very strong sense of smell. Horses have the ability to find their way home from unfamiliar territories and it is believed to be because of their strong sense of smell. So, I swear, Kisara's strong sense of smell isn't something I just made up for shits and giggles xD.**

 **Third, in case anyone is curious, the name Olsman is of Dutch origin. Mr. Olsman (or Isaac Olsman for those who are curious about what his first name is xD) is the town butcher. His daughter, Greta Olsman, is learning to play the piano, so he had Alissa prepare a small book of easy to learn songs for her. None of this is really important to know because it doesn't come up later on in the story, but I thought I'd include this information in the author's note for anyone who may be interested in "background information" xD.**

 **Fourth, if anyone is curious about Zigfried's wedding suit, I got inspiration from a three-piece wedding suit from the Ham House collection in Surrey. This piece of information was probably irrelevant, but I love including you guys in the writing of this story xD**

 **Fifth, I didn't get all that descriptive with describing the interior of the castle because I plan on doing that in the chapter(s) where Alissa explores the castle. At this point, although she was curious, her main priority was finding Alister and her brother. So, yeah…more description to come.**

 **Sixth, in the little Joey and Mokuba spat part, I really tried to portray the bickering relationship between them. They always reminded me of bickering siblings when they argued in the anime, so I tried to portray that as best as possible. Hopefully I succeeded xD.**

 **Lastly, thanks, as always, to AbyssalDreamer18 for beta reading. You're the jelly to my peanut butter xD. Sorry for the extremely long author's notes, but as I said, I love including you guys in the world of this story just as much as I love writing it. I'll try to keep the author's notes a little shorter, but I can't make any promises xD. Anyhoo, review, critique, ask questions, whatever you like and I'll talk to you guys next update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I am so, so, so, SO sorry for the long hiatus between this chapter and the previous one. As I mentioned on my profile and in other A/N, I haven't really felt like myself lately and then I had finals. But, I'll spare you all the details because I'm FINALLY starting to feel like my old self again AND I'm finally on winter break. Thank you all for being so patient with me and my lack of updates, I really appreciate it. Anyhoo, read and enjoy! I hope the chapter was worth the wait!**

* * *

Alissa froze, the threatening voice from the shadows causing a chill to tingle down her spine. Ben screamed in fright and buried his face into Alister's awaiting chest. Alissa spun around to press her back against the prison door. Her eyes locked on the heavily shadowed figure hiding in the shadows of the tower. Only the eyes of the figure were visible. Two orbs of brilliant sapphire with slit pupils stared back at Alissa, evaluating her.

"Who's there?" she asked, struggling to fight the tremor in her voice. "Answer me! Who are you?"

"Tch, you're in no position to be making demands," the figure growled in response. "But if you're really that curious, I'm the master of this castle, and everything within its walls."

"Then you're the one responsible for kidnapping Alister and my brother-!"

"Kidnap? Tch, I did no such thing," the figure growled. "Your brother and his little friend trespassed on _my_ castle grounds _and_ entered my castle without my permission. As punishment, they get to stay here until I decide to release them or until they freeze, whichever comes first."

"They trespassed, they didn't commit a murder. Trespassing doesn't warrant this kind of punishment."

The Master of the castle couldn't help but smirk at Alissa, intrigued by her unyielding boldness.

"Regardless, they broke the law and they aren't getting off simply because they were ignorant. Now listen to your little friend and get out before I change my mind and imprison you as well."

"I'm not leaving them here!"

"I'm not giving you a choice."

Alissa was about to retort when Ben started coughing violently in Alister's arms. Choking coughs and thick pants shook Ben's small frame. Alissa's fury quickly turned to fear as she turned back towards the prison and reached through the bars in a desperate attempt to reach her ailing brother.

"Alissa, you have to get him out of here. If he stays he'll just get sicker," Alister explained, lightly massaging the boy's back in an attempt to calm Ben's violent coughs.

"What's wrong with him?" the Master asked, a look of concern briefly passing over his eyes.

"Ben is severely asthmatic. He developed it when he was young. The doctor said that severe temperatures, excessive physical activity, dust, or even pollen could trigger an attack. He could die if it isn't controlled!"

"So give him his medicine."

"I don't have it with me, I would've given it to him if I did!" Alissa snapped before turning her attention to Alister. "Alister where's his medicine? I know you packed some. I even had you pack extra."

"We used the emergency dose already. The rest of it is in the caravan." _Damn it! The caravan_ , Alissa mentally swore. The medicine was in the caravan that _she_ had untied from Kisara before they ventured into the woods. She swallowed around the large lump in her throat and turned back to the Master of the castle.

"Ben can't stay here. If he stays here, he'll die."

"Hn, since I'm feeling generous and because I refuse to be responsible for the death of a child, I will allow you to take your brother back to your town with you. But, your little friend stays here."

"No way, I'm not leaving Alister here!"

"Then what do you suggest, hm?" he asked. "One of you is staying here as punishment for trespassing in my home."

Alissa dropped her gaze to the floor and clenched her fists. She had to think of some way to get both Alister and Ben home.

The Master quietly assessed Alissa, whose face was hidden behind a curtain of dark curls. She intrigued him. She challenged him; meeting him blow for blow without fear. Even with her brother's life and her friend's freedom at stake, she refused to show any sign of fear. He watched her, fascinated, as she calculated a plan in her head. _Oh yes, she is intriguing._

"How about we make a deal?" Alissa finally offered, lifting her gaze to meet the Master's. Emerald green eyes that burned with a fierce determination bore into his icy blue ones.

"I'm listening," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You said that one of us had to stay, but you never gave specifics on who had to stay."

"Yes, I recall not giving specifics."

"Alissa, what are you doing?" Alister asked, fearing where Alissa was going with her offer.

"I'll give you something else in return for their freedom."

"Tch, what could you possibly have to bargain with?"

"I don't have much, but I do have one thing. Let Ben and Alister return to our town and never bother them again. If you promise to let them go, no double crosses or tricks or anything, you can have me instead."

"Alissa, no!" Alister and Ben shouted from their prison.

"You?" the Master snorted in disbelief but stopped when he saw the determination on her face. "You would take their places?"

" _If_ I did, would you let them go?"

"Hn, what you're offering is pretty steep," the Master said with a smirk. "You'd be giving up everything. You'd be trapped here unless I decided to let you leave. You'd never see your brother or your friend or your home again."

"I know," Alissa replied, a determined fire burning in her eyes. "But it would be worth it if it meant they got to go free."

"Think carefully about what you're offering. I noticed your wild spirit the moment I laid eyes on you. You're not one that is easily confined; a spirit that longs for freedom and adventure. If you agree, you'd be giving all that away. You'd be confined to these grounds and this castle, and if I ordered it, to this very room."

Alissa clenched her fists at her sides and set her jaw. The Master was testing her. She knew it. He was finding her weakness and exploiting it. He was waiting for her to break. But she refused to. At the moment, Ben's health was her main priority. He needed his medicine, and Alissa needed Alister to take care of Ben. Even more importantly, Alister and Ben would be safe and far away from their prison and the monster who trapped them there. To Alissa, the choice couldn't be clearer.

"Let me see you."

"Excuse me?"

"I'd like to see who I'm giving up my freedom to. You're a fool if you think that you can continue to keep me in the dark."

The Master snorted and crossed his arms over his chest before responding. "Very well. Don't scream."

Alissa nodded and braced herself as the Master stepped out of the shadows and into the light given off by the moon. Immediately, Alissa brought her gaze up to meet the Master and her heart stopped. For someone who acted horribly monstrous, he was truly breathtaking.

He was neither human or dragon. He was both. Dragon King was a very fitting title for the Master of the castle. He stood six foot one, about a full head taller than Alissa. A mop of neatly combed chestnut hair adorned his head with some pieces falling into his eyes. Pointed, fin like ears protruded from under his hair and frizzled out at the ends. His face was angular and smooth as if it had been chiseled out of expensive marble. Sharp, pristine white fangs protruded from his upper lip, visible only when he smirked or spoke. Silvery blue scales were sprinkled around his eyes and strong cheekbones.

His body was lean, muscled, and perfectly proportioned. Flawless, cream colored skin stretched over tight muscles and abs. Silvery blue scales covered his forearms all the way up to the spike protruding from both of his elbows. A sprinkling of scales sparkled on his shoulder blades. The scales on his forearms were clustered so closely together that from far away it would appear that he was wearing silvery blue gauntlets. His hands were muscled and covered in the same silvery blue scales. Sharp claws that could rip an enemy to shreds in seconds replaced his fingers. Fin like appendages with a tapered point sprouted out from both of his shoulders. Two massive wings protruded from his shoulders just below his back. The wings were muscled, membraned, and topped with a pointed, white spike.

Behind him, a thick, muscled tail covered in the same silvery blue scales and with a curved tip moved of its own accord, warning any enemies of its strength. His legs were lean and muscular and looked intensely powerful. Harder, silvery blue scales covered the bottom of his legs from his knees all the way down to his dragon like feet that resembled his claws, except with shorter nails.

The Dragon King wore a high neck, sleeveless, black shirt. Over the shirt, he wore a long, white, sleeveless watchcoat with gold trim that was closed at the front, allowing it to fan out and sway around his legs. Intricate, silver dragons with sapphire colored eyes adorned the coat. His muscled legs were covered in black breeches that reached just below his knees. Yes, he was truly a breathtaking creature.

"Well?" the Master demanded harshly. "Don't just stare!"

His voice brought Alissa's gaze back to his eyes. Two, brilliant sapphires with silver flecks and slit pupils. _Oh my God_ , she thought. _He's real_.

"You're Seto Kaiba, the Dragon King."

"Hn, perhaps I underestimated your intelligence," he replied with an amused smirk.

"You're real."

"Of course I'm real, you fool! What kind of idiotic question is that?"

"No, I mean…there's this legend from our town about you but…everyone always assumed that you were just a legend."

"Hn, clearly that's not that case. Now, what do you say? Do we have an agreement?"

"Alissa, don't!" Ben begged.

"You have my word," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Then it's done!" he roared, turning his attention to the two figures that had appeared in the doorway and beckoning them in.

As soon as Ben and Alister were released from their prison, Ben threw himself into Alissa's arms, crying and pleading for her to go back with them.

"Damn it, Alissa. What are you thinking?" Alissa swore, putting an arm around the siblings. Their reunion was short lived. Not long after, Seto grabbed Alister by the back of his cloak and shoved him into the arms of one of the guardsmen.

"No! Wait!" Alissa begged, reaching an arm out towards Alister.

"Odion, Marik, take them both back to the village. And make sure the young one gets his medicine," Kaiba replied to the two guardsmen. He kneeled down in front of Ben and said in a much more pleasant voice. "Come along. It's time to go."

"No! Not without, Alissa! Not without my sister!"

"It's okay, Ben. I'll be okay. Just go with Alister," she replied, trying to plaster on a smile to comfort him. The younger saw right through it and continued to cry.

The Dragon King sighed in irritation and gently snatched Ben away and handed him off to Marik.

"Get them there quickly."

The two guardsmen obeyed and dragged the two struggling boys out of the tower.

"No! Wait! Wait!" Alissa rushed towards the door after them but Kaiba had already shut and locked the door. She rushed to the window and watched as the two guardsmen took to the skies while Alister and Ben struggled in vain to get away. Her heart shattered when she heard Ben screaming her name. He had just lost the last of his real family. He was so scared.

Finally, the heartache became too much and she collapsed to the floor with a sob. She buried her face in her hands as tears streaked down her face. She always hated crying and showing weakness but the remorse, fear, and anger was too much for her. She had just signed her whole life away for someone who didn't know a thing about sacrifice. So she cried. She cried for her brother, she cried for Alister, she cried for her lost freedom, and she cried for the life that she would never lead and her dreams that would never be realized.

 **xxx**

Seto followed Odion and Marik out into the courtyard to ensure that they got both boys home safely. Both Alister and Ben continued to beg for Alissa's release, they even offered the same deal, but Seto refused. By now, Ben's coughing had gotten much worse.

"Hurry up and get them both home!" Seto ordered. He watched as his two servants took to the skies with their squirming captives. Based on their speed, Seto estimated that they would reach the town in minutes, allowing plenty of time for the younger boy to get his medicine. The Dragon King turned on his heels and reentered the castle. He tried to block out the cries of his prisoner as he headed up towards the tower.

"Uh, Seto?"

"What is it, Mokuba?" he asked, turning his attention to the levitating ball of fluff that had appeared next to him.

"We were all just wondering what room we should prepare for the girl?"

"Why would you be wondering that?"

"You weren't seriously thinking of making her stay in the tower were you? Seto, she just lost her family and her freedom in less than an hour. Besides, the deadline for the curse is only a few months away and she may be our last hope."

"You think I don't know that!"

"Just consider it, Seto."

"Put her in the Blue room on the second floor of the East Wing."

"Okay, Seto. You're doing the right thing."

Seto scoffed as his brother flew away. He trudged up the rest of the stairs and threw open the tower door. The Dragon King felt guilt wrench at his chest when he saw the strong willed girl crumpled on the floor.

"Alissa?"

The girl's head shot up when her name left the Dragon King's lips. Her emerald colored eyes were glowing with anger and tear streaks were visible down her cheeks. Without warning, she dashed forward and brought her hand across the Dragon King's cheek. The force of the hit caused the Dragon King to stumble back, holding his red cheek.

"You heartless bastard! How could you do that? Couldn't you see how scared and upset Ben was? He needed me! They're all I have and you wouldn't even let me say goodbye! This was the last time I will ever get to see them and you didn't even let me say goodbye!" She prepared to strike the Dragon King again but he caught her wrist in a firm grip mid strike.

"Hit me again and it will be the last thing you ever do," he hissed, tightening his grip enough to leave a bruise on her thin wrist.

"Let go of me!" she demanded, trying to pry her wrist out of his grip. He responded by tightening his grip and pushing her into the wall. Despite the fear bubbling up inside of her, she refused to show it and instead glared into his equally searing gaze.

"Let's get something straight here. You don't make the rules, _I_ do. And if you refuse to follow them then it will make your stay here much less pleasant. Are we clear?"

"You don't own me."

"You just signed your life away to me. I do now." Finally, he let go of her wrist and stepped back. The Dragon King stared at her and noticed her eyes were burning with a defiance even stronger than before.

"Mark my words, you will learn your place," he replied before turning on his heels and heading towards the door. "Now, if you're done acting like a petulant child, I'll show you to your room."

"My room?"

"Tch, did you really think I was going to let you freeze up here? I'm not that heartless. Now pull yourself together and follow me before I change my mind. Unless of course you'd prefer to stay here, then by all means be my guest."

Alissa swallowed around the lump in her throat and followed him out of the tower. She may not have been staying in the tower prison, but she was still a prisoner.

* * *

 **Woo this chapter is FINALLY done. This chapter took quite a while cause I wanted to draw out Seto as a dragon before I described him…if that makes sense. So, just a few things.**

 **Firstly, Marik and Odion both appear in this chapter but did not get described. I decided to do this because I want to describe them in more detail once they are formally introduced. All you need to know for now is that they're both guardsmen.**

 **Second, Seto's attire took a while to figure out because I wanted it to fit both the time period, and the way his body is. He wouldn't wear anything with long sleeves or long legs because all his spikes and claws would rip the clothes to shreds. His shirt isn't really a turtleneck, just a high neck shirt since turtleneck weren't introduced until I think the 1900s. His coat is very similar to a trench coat, but a little different. Trench coats basically originated from watchcoats. The reason I didn't have him wear a trench coat is because they were not introduced until I believe the 1800s.**

 **Third, I know that Seto gets a little violent in this chapter, particularly when he handles Alissa. Usually, I would be against him "manhandling" a woman since I believe that he was raised to have a respect for women. However, in this story, Seto has lost a lot of his humanity. He won't be slapping anyone around or anything, but if he seems a little rough, that's why.**

 **Fourth, this is a shameless self-promo, but I made an Instagram for my account. It's the same as my Pen Name. I'll be uploading concept art and sneak peeks and what not so go ahead and check it out!**

 **Lastly, I'd like to thank AbyssalDreamer18 once again for betaing. She's the bomb.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows for last chapter! It always makes me happy to see you guys enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it. So, I saw the new Beauty and the Beast movie for the FOURTH time a couple weeks ago and it was BEAUTIFUL. It honestly gets better every time I see it. Seriously, if you haven't, I recommend seeing it. The acting is great, the new songs are beautiful, and everything is just…AH it was so good. Anyway, I won't spoil any of it for you guys, but seeing the movie again made me super inspired to work on this story, especially since the stress of the end of the semester has sort of zapped the energy right out of me! So, without further delay, read and enjoy!**

 **Xxxx**

 _What was I thinking?_ Alissa asked herself as she slowly followed Seto down the tower staircase. _No, I know why I did it. I had to save Ben and Alister. I had to, but why did I have to be so impulsive? I should have found another way; I can't stay here!_

"Keep up," he growled, looking back at his captive as he grabbed another lantern from one of the hooks on the wall. His voice pulled Alissa from her thoughts and she bit back a sarcastic retort before picking up her pace so she fell in right behind the Dragon King. She followed him down the long, dank flight of stairs. Once they finally reached the bottom of the tower stairs, Seto shouldered open the door and ordered her to follow him down the nearby corridor and then up another set of spiral stairs that lead to the second floor. As she pulled her coat tighter around her to keep out the cold, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander around the corridor. The interior of the castle was just as beautiful and magnificent as the exterior.

The hallway led to a large open balcony with black, marble bannisters and stairs on both sides. She peeked over the railing of the balcony and was offered a fantastic view of the main entryway along with several other rooms, including a lavish dining room. Intricate chandeliers made of crystal and dark iron hung from thick chains attached to the high ceilings. The ceiling was made up of points and curves and scattered with several stained glass windows. White pillars ran along the walls and stretched all the way up. Statues of gargoyles and other winged creatures lined the walls, all of them evenly spaced. The detailed craftsmanship made the statues look alive. Despite the age of the castle, no dust or cobwebs could be found anywhere. The walls, the statues, the chandeliers, and even the corners of the tall ceiling were spotless. Everything in the castle was dark colored and eerily blanketed in shadows, a sharp contrast to the silvery tone of the Master's scales. Alissa dropped her gaze to the marbled floor and shivered slightly.

The Dragon King peered over his shoulder to make sure Alissa hadn't gotten too far behind. He watched her as her fascinated and terrified gaze moved around the castle's interior. He suddenly noticed how stifling the silence had gotten. He had always been one to enjoy the silence, it always offered him a sense of peace, but suddenly the absence of noise was becoming too much for him. He didn't expect Alissa to be the one to break the silence so after a few seconds he finally spoke.

"I take it you find the castle adequate?"

"It'll do," she replied tonelessly. He eyed her for a few seconds more before returning his gaze in front of him and speaking again.

"The castle is your home now. You're permitted to wander about it as you please with a couple restrictions, you're forbidden to leave the castle grounds and you are not allowed anywhere near the West Wing."

"The West Wing?" she asked, her head shooting up in interest. "Why? What's in the West Wing?"

"It doesn't matter what's in there. All you need to know is that you're not allowed there."

Alissa snorted but otherwise stayed silent.

"Also," Seto continued. "Should you need anything, don't hesitate to ask one of the servants for assistance. They'll be happy to serve you."

Alissa let out a sarcastic snort causing the Dragon King to look over his shoulder and fix her with a hard stare.

"And what exactly do you find so funny?"

"You really think that giving me a room and acting civil is going to make me forget what you've done? You've taken me prisoner!"

"Tch, don't blame me for your lack of impulse control. _You_ agreed to this."

"You didn't give me a choice!"

"There's always a choice."

"Look, I don't like you and you don't like me so do us both a favor a drop the act!"

The Dragon King growled before letting out a dark chuckle. A chuckle that chilled Alissa to the bone. In a blur of silvery blue, he had turned his whole body around and backed Alissa up against a wall. He had her boxed in with a clawed hand on each side of her head.

"What the hell are you doing? Get away from me!" she screamed, fighting to keep the fear out of her voice.

He didn't listen and instead leaned in until she could feel his breath on her face.

"You have a wild spirit and a sharp tongue. That's a deadly combination for a prisoner to have," he paused to take her chin in one of his claws and force her fearful but defiant gaze to meet his. "I suggest you learn how to get both of those under control otherwise your stay is going to be very unpleasant."

"Let go of me!"

He stared her down for a few more seconds, dropped her chin, stepped away from her, and then continued down the hallway like nothing had happened.

Alissa stood frozen in fear for a few more seconds before slowly stepping away from the wall. She clenched her fists to stop her hands from shaking and cursed herself for letting him see her fear. She quickly collected herself and her defiant glare returned full force.

"Keep up," he called from down the hall. "We're almost to your room."

She held her tongue, caught up to him, and continued to follow him towards her new prison.

 **xxx**

"Come on, everyone! We've got to move quickly! The Master will be here with the girl any minute!" A blue beast with red wings called to the group of bustling servants preparing the Blue room for their new guest. Since the room was hardly used, it had taken a while for the servants to remove the heavy layers of dust accumulating in the corners and on the windowsill, but with the dust gone, the sheets cleaned and replaced, and the vases replaced with fresh flowers; the room was looking as good as it had before the curse. The beast eyed the servants as they worked, his thick, blue tail moved of its own accord behind him. Spikes protruded from the monster's shoulders, wings, stomach, wrists, forehead, and chin.

"The girl does have a name, Yami," Yugi replied with a smile as he arranged a bouquet of white roses in a blue vase on the bedside table.

"Yeah! Her name is Alissa and she's gonna be da one ta break da curse!" Joey said happily as he fluffed up the pillows on the bed.

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Joey," Yami replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why don't we let her get settled in before you go exciting everyone again."

"What's not ta get excited about, Yami? Did ya hear how she challenged the Master?"

"Joey might have a point," Yugi chimed in. "Not many people would have stood up to Kaiba the way she did."

Yami didn't have a chance to answer before his attention was pulled to the now open balcony door.

"I've finished the balcony," a feminine voice announced when the balcony door opened. A large, blue feathered bird with a fiery red crest and a plume of red feathers for a tail. The bird hovered above the ground and brushed away the dust that coated the golden handles of the balcony doors.

"Thank you, Mai," Yami replied to the now standing blue bird.

"And we've finished with the wardrobe," a small green creature with golden wings and blue eyes replied, flapping its wings to stay in the air.

"We weren't sure what she liked so we filled the wardrobe with a couple standard pieces until we can get her measured and some clothing made," a pink creature with a halo and blue wings added.

"Alright. Thank you Tea; Serenity."

"Well, dat just about does it. Da bed is made, da room dusted, da wardrobe is made up, and da bathing chamber is prepared. Da room looks ready ta me!" Joey replied enthusiastically.

"I'll just light a fire," Yugi said, approaching the gated fire place. "It is rather cold in here." Yugi made his way over to the fireplace and picked up the piece of flint from the mantle. He pulled open the gate and the glass that kept the fire contained and fiddled with the flint. After a few seconds, a fire roared to life. He shut the fireplace and stepped back.

"There! I think that about covers everything." Yugi replied. "The room looks great. Thank you everyone for the help."

"We're glad ta help ya out, Yug."

"Well, since Yugi gave us his approval for the room we all need to leave. The Master will be here any second," Yami replied sternly, holding open the door and beginning to usher the servants out. "I have a feeling the gir- I mean Alissa will want some rest after the night she's had."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We'd probably just freak her out more."

"Yes, yes. Now everyone get out of here, they're coming!"

The servants scattered, disappearing down the long hallway and out of sight; all of them hoping that the Blue room would make their new guest feel at home.

 **xxx**

"We're here," the Dragon King replied upon reaching a dark, mahogany door.

His voice pulled her gaze up from the floor and to his face. He stood, holding the door open for her to enter. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously and approached the door.

"Thank you," she said quietly as she entered the room. She stopped just inside the doorway and stared, completely enthralled by the beautiful room. Having grown up in a farm house, being in a room of such elegance made her feel as if she had walked straight into one of her books.

The room was large, the walls painted a light blue color. A bed with a silver casted iron frame and a silky, blue canopy sat against the wall in the middle of the room. Blue sheets made of silk were pulled up and tucked nicely under a large, white comforter. Silver and light blue colored pillows, both decorative and not decorative, were situated neatly at the head of the bed.

A silver casted iron table sat to the left of the bed and housed a beautiful bouquet of white roses in a crystal blue vase. A leather bound book sat next to the vase. A beautifully carved candelabrum rested flat against the wall above the table, each branch holding a candle that filled the room with the fragrance of rose petals. On the left wall, a tall fireplace made of dark marble and glass housed a roaring fire. More candles were situated on the fireplaces mantle, all held inside iron candle holders.

All the furniture in the room was made of dark colored wood with brass handles. The furniture pieces lined the walls across from and adjacent from the bed. On the same wall as the fireplace there was a large wardrobe with intricate, swirling designs carved into it. A large desk and chair sat against the far right wall next to a large bookshelf stacked with books.

Across from the door into the bedroom, there was another doorway. The door was hardly open, but Alissa was able to deduce that it led to a bathing chamber. Across from the bed was a pair of glass doors with dark blue curtains tied open with golden cords that opened up to a balcony.

"I hope you find the room to your liking." Seto's voice jolted her out of her staring. She turned to look at him briefly before turning her gaze back to the room.

"It'll do."

"Despite the circumstances, I really do hope you enjoy your stay here."

She turned to look at him again when he said that. Was that sympathy she had detected in his voice? Before she could think any more on it, he spoke again.

"Now, get changed and have the servants bring you down to the dining room for dinner. That isn't a request." Then, without another word, the Dragon King slammed the door shut and locked it, leaving Alissa trapped and alone in her new prison.

Alissa let out a frustrated roar and hit the door a few times before she leaned her back against it in exhaustion. She let out a dejected whimper and slid down to the floor with her head in her knees. After a few seconds, she mentally scolded herself for giving up so easily. She pulled herself to her feet and looked around the room for something she could use. Promise or no promise, she was not staying in the castle with a monster who didn't understand sacrifice. All she had to do was reach the woods and then she'd be home free. There was no way that the Dragon King would be able to find her if she escaped into the woods and she was sure she'd be able to find her way back home without too much trouble. She wasn't ready to give up hope just yet. She was going to escape.

 **Xxxx**

 **Hey guys! So, I had no intentions of it taking this long to get this updated, but then school happened. This was my last semester of college…ever…so it's been rather busy. I have finals in two weeks and then I am FREE. Anyway, I just wanted to start off by apologizing for the long wait. A few notes for this chapter.**

 **Firstly, for Alissa's room design, I wanted something regal but at the same time something sort of tomboyish since Alissa isn't exactly that lady like. However, I still did want to make her room a little girly. So, I opted for light and dark colors to kind of give me the best of both worlds.**

 **Second, the castle interior was inspired largely by Beauty and the Beast (the animated version) just because the castles that I used for the exterior of the castle didn't really satisfy what I wanted for the interior. Not much of the castle has been described yet, but I plan to describe more as I go along and as Alissa discovers new rooms in the castle.**

 **Third, the servants and their monster forms. So, even though Tea, Serenity, Yami, and Mai weren't in this chapter a lot, I decided to clarify what monsters they are and their position anyway since here on out they'll probably have a pretty significant role in the story.**

 **In the very first version of this story, I planned on having Mai's monster form be Harpy Lady and Yami's monster form be either Dark Magician or King's Knight. However, as I mentioned before, I don't want any of the servants to be humanoid creatures cause the humanoid creature is kind of Seto's things. So, I opted for other monsters in their decks.**

 **Mai is Blue Winged Crown and serves as the Palace Maid.**

 **Yami is Archfiend of Gilfer and he is the Palace Steward; he's in charge of all the castle staff and is also in charge of the castle in Set or Mokuba's absence. He is also Seto's advisor (this role will come into play later).**

 **Tea is Shining Friendship (I know, shocker) and is the Palace Seamstress/ Mistress of the Wardrobe. She's the one in charge of all the clothes and she also oversees their manufacturing. She also takes down measurements.**

 **Serenity is Petit Angel and is the Assistant Seamstress. She assists Tea with the measurements and sewing.**

 **Lastly, as always, a huge thank you to my beta AbyssalDreamer18 for editing for me. With finals just around the corner, I definitely needed the second pair of eyes to check this over.**


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